Suits may be brought in Federal or State court; typically, they are based on a claim that a student's constitutional or statutory rights have been violated. Frequently, these suits will seek to revoke the school district's imposition of some disciplinary measure, for example, by ordering the reinstatement of a student who has been expelled or suspended. Suits may also attempt to recover money damages from the school district or the employee involved, or both, however, court awards of money damages are extremely rare. Moreover, although there can be no guarantee of a given result in any particular case, courts in recent years have tended to discourage such litigation.
In general, disciplinary measures imposed reasonably and in accordance with established legal requirements will be upheld by the courts. As a rule, Federal judges will not substitute their interpretations of school rules or regulations for those of local school authorities or otherwise second-guess reasonable decisions by school officials.[ [25] In addition, school officials are entitled to a qualified good faith immunity from personal liability for damages for having violated a student's Federal constitutional or civil rights.[ [26] When this immunity applies, it shields school officials from any personal liability for money damages. Thus, as a general matter, personal liability is very rare, because officials should not be held personally liable unless their actions are clearly unlawful, unreasonable, or arbitrary.
When a court does award damages, the award may be "compensatory" or "punitive." Compensatory damages are awarded to compensate the student for injuries actually suffered as a result of the violation of his or her rights and cannot be based upon the abstract "value" or "importance" of the constitutional rights in question.[ [27] The burden is on the student to prove that he suffered actual injury as a result of the deprivation. Thus, a student who is suspended, but not under the required procedures, will not be entitled to compensation if he would have been suspended had a proper hearing been held. If the student cannot prove that the failure to hold a hearing itself caused him some compensable harm, then the student is entitled to no more than nominal damages, such as $1.00.[ [28] "Punitive damages" are awarded to punish the perpetrator of the injury. Normally, punitive damages are awarded only when the conduct in question is malicious, unusually reckless, or otherwise reprehensible.
Parents and students can also claim that actions by a school or school officials have violated State law. For example, it can be asserted that a teacher "assaulted" a student in violation of a State criminal law. The procedures and standards in actions involving such violations are determined by each State. Some States provide a qualified immunity from tort liability under standards similar to the "good faith" immunity in Federal civil rights actions. Other States provide absolute immunity under their law for actions taken in the course of a school official's duties.
Nondiscrimination in Enforcement of Discipline
Federal law applicable to programs or activities receiving Federal financial assistance prohibits school officials who are administering discipline from discriminating against students on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex. Schools should therefore administer their discipline policies even-handedly, without regard to such considerations. Thus, as a general matter, students with similar disciplinary records who violate the same rule in the same way should be treated similarly. For example, if male and female students with no prior record of misbehavior are caught together smoking marijuana, it would not, in the absence of other relevant factors, be advisable for the school to suspend the male for 10 days while imposing only an afternoon detention on the female. Such divergent penalties for the same offense may be appropriate, however, if, for example, the student who received the harsher punishment had a history of misconduct or committed other infractions after this first confrontation with school authorities.
School officials should also be aware of and adhere to the special rules and procedures for the disciplining of handicapped students under the Education of the Handicapped Act, 20 USC § 1400-20, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 USC § 794.
(For legal citations, see reference section.)