JONATHAN TURLEY

In a challenging case of count the torts, a Plymouth, Indiana teacher’s aide tried to staple a post it to the forehead of a fourth grader. The parents were not told until shortly before their child returned home with two holes in her forehead. Natalie Wilson, the fourth-grader’s mother, said that her daughter had picked up a Post-It note from the floor and stuck it to her forehead. The aide warned her that if she did not remove the paper from her forehead he would staple it there. The aide has resigned, but this falls into a interesting respondeat superior area. The aide was acting within his scope of employment but in a clearly bizarre way. Crimes and intentional torts are usually found to fall outside of respondeat superior liability, but not always. Here, a jury could find that the battery and negligence could extend to the school district. There is also emotional distress claims that can be brought. For the full story, click here There also remains the chance for criminal charges in such a case.