Litigating Student Bullying Lawsuits: What You Need to Know

Agenda / Content Covered

Part 1, Joanne I. Butler - 10:00 - 11:30

1. What Is Bullying?
2. Key State and Federal Protections to Know
   1. Title IX
   2. Title VI
   3. The Civil Rights Act of 1964
   4. IDEA
   5. Section 504
   6. Title II
   7. Section 1983 Claims and Fourteenth Amendment Violations
   8. Overview of State Anti-Bullying Laws
3. Cyberbullying and Off-Campus Conduct
4. Intervention - Too Little, Too Much, Just Right
5. Minimizing Liability: Key Steps for Schools to Take
6. School Policies, Staff Training, and Disciplinary Actions: What to Look For
7. Assessing Liability

Part 2, Mary DeCamp - 11:45 - 1:15

8. Causes of Action and Potential Roadblocks to Recovery
9. Quantifying Damages
10. How to Prove or Disprove Bullying: Investigation and Discovery Tips and Techniques
    1. Interviewing the Bullied Student, the Aggressor, and Witnesses: Essential Guidelines
    2. Collecting and Examining School Records and Documents
    3. Cyberbullying: Obtaining Evidence From Social Media, Text Messages, Emails, etc.
    4. Top FERPA Considerations
11. Best Practices for Settlement and Trial
12. Case Law Update

Accreditation Details:

Joanne L. Butler is a partner in the law firm of Schenck Price Smith & King, LLP. Ms. Butler's law practice is primarily devoted to the areas of education and public employment law. She represents numerous boards of education as general or special counsel. In addition to providing her school district clients with counsel in the many components of school law and student, staff, and board operations issues, Ms. Butler represents her clients in litigation matters including, student residency, discipline, and special education hearings, staff tenure proceedings, employment discrimination matters, grievance arbitrations, unfair practice proceedings, and bid/contracting disputes. She regularly appears before the Department of Education, the Office of Administrative Law, the Public Employees Relations Commission, the Division on Civil Rights, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the various state and federal courts. Ms. Butler is a trustee of the New Jersey Association of School Attorneys and a member of the National Council of School Attorneys. She also is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association's School Law Committee and its Labor and Employment Law Section. Ms. Butler frequently lectures and provides in-service training on various education and employment issues. After attending Penn State University for two years, she graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, summa cum laude. Ms. Butler attended the Columbus School of Law of the Catholic University of America. She served a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Clarkson S. Fisher, former Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Mary DeCamp is a partner with Bennett & DeCamp, PLLC, where her practice areas include education and employment law. Ms. DeCamp has represented school districts, school boards, governmental entities, corporations, small businesses, and individuals in a variety of litigated matters. While much of her practice involves civil litigation, she also devotes a notable amount of her practice to counseling and advising clients on best practices and legal issues arising out of many areas of the law, including Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; and various other federal, state, and local laws and regulations pertaining to employment law, education law, and other facets of her legal practice. Ms. DeCamp is licensed to practice law in Tennessee and Georgia. She is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association, the Chattanooga Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia, the Council of School Attorneys (COSA), and the Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA). Ms. DeCamp earned her B.S. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and J.D. degree from the University of Georgia School of Law.