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MUNICIPAL LAW: Principal Allegedly Failed to Report Assault to Police

CASE:  Gorman v. Town of New Milford

COURT:  Waterbury J.D., at Waterbury

DOC. No.:  CV08-5004455S

DATE:  May 16, 2012

Connecticut General Statutes §10-233g provides, “Where there is a physical assault made by a student upon a teacher or other school employee on school property or in performance of school duties and such teacher or employee files a written report with the school principal based upon such assault, the school building principal shall report such physical assault to the local police authority.”  Allegedly, the plaintiff teacher was assaulted multiple times by one of her students, who was disabled, and the plaintiff required surgery and suffered loss of wages.  The plaintiff sued the Town of New Milford, alleging that she reported each assault to the principal, and that the principal failed to report the assaults to the police or to take correction action to protect the teacher, in violation of C.G.S. § 10-233g.  The court was not persuaded that the statute provides a private cause of action to a teacher, if a principal fails to report an assault to the police.  The court wrote, “The Legislature knows how to create express rights of action and when it has remained silent on such remedies this court will not presume that was unintentional.”  No private right of action exists pursuant to C.G.S. § 10-233g, and the court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on that count.