Defining Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying
When facing HIB concerns, it is vital to understand precisely what to look for. A HIB case expert witness can confirm whether the incident qualifies as harassment, intimidation, or bullying, or was merely student conflict. The legal definition of HIB may vary slightly across state lines, but generally refers to any intentional written, verbal, or physical act or electronic communication that is motivated by any actual or perceived characteristic such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, or sexual orientation.
For a school to be held liable for HIB matters, the act or gesture must take place on school property, at a school-sponsored event, or on school transportation. However, schools may also be held liable for electronic communication (cyberbullying) that is so pervasive that it interferes with the victim’s education. A student bullying expert witness can attest to whether the cyberbullying reached that threshold, for instance, by fostering a hostile learning environment.
Bullying and harassment are terms that are often used interchangeably, but a HIB case expert witness will note there are subtle differences.
- Bullying: Bullying is when one student leverages physical, social, or emotional power over another individual to target the victim with repeated, unwanted words or actions creating a hostile learning environment. Physical acts of bullying, especially those that cause a bullying student injury, are some of the most common cases that get a lot of attention.
- Harassment: When bullying behavior is targeted at a member of a protected class — including but not limited to race, religion, sex, age, or disability — then a harassment in education expert witness would consider it to be harassment. This is important to note as there are different federal protections for harassment victims than for victims of bullying.
- Intimidation: Intimidation is often considered a form of bullying or harassment, but it is helpful to understand what makes it different. Legally, an act of intimidation occurs when someone frightens a victim into doing something. For example, one student physically stuffing the victim into a locker would be an act of bullying. However, if the student makes threats toward the victim until the victim goes into the locker on their own, that would be considered intimidation by an expert witness specializing in bullying and intimidation. If those threats were based upon the victim’s gender, religion, race, or other protected class, then this would be considered harassment as well.
A HIB case expert witness is often called upon during litigation to clarify the distinctions between regular peer conflict and harassment, bullying, and intimidation to determine whether the behavior in question constitutes HIB and whether the school’s response was appropriate.
School Liability in HIB Cases
When incidents of HIB take place resulting in emotional or physical harm to a student, the school may be held liable for negligence. A student bullying expert witness from the School Liability Expert Group can evaluate compliance with the standards protecting children from bullying, student injury, and other HIB incidents. While a school cannot be expected to eliminate all forms of HIB incidents that occur, there is a professional standard of care they must meet. Public and private schools, colleges, daycare, or other child and youth oriented organizations and agencies must reasonably protect the children under its care from harassment, intimidation, and bullying.
With reputable harassment, intimidation, and bullying expert witness services, the School Liability Expert Group has established a process to quickly and thoroughly determine the viability of an HIB school liability case. Adept at research while applying specialized knowledge, our HIB case expert witness team can verify if a school or other youth organization knew or should have known the harassment, intimidation, or bullying was occurring, and if that school met its reasonable expectation of child protection.
Failure to meet the professional standard of care in student supervision and bullying prevention can give rise to not only school negligence claims but also to civil rights and discrimination actions under federal or state law.. Something schools often fail to distinguish from general bullying is sexual harassment, which is regulated under Title IX and carries specific legal obligations for prevention, investigation, and response. In cases where bullying overlaps with sexual harassment or other forms of unlawful conduct, the insight of harassment in education expert witness knowledgeable in school standards and bullying dynamics is crucial. Ignoring early reports of bullying can allow the conduct to progress into sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination, violating both professional standards and Title IX requirements. Harassment and HIB case expert witness can provide analysis to determine whether the lack of appropriate response and failure to meet the standard of care directly caused escalation of harm and greater liability. The student bullying expert witness can testify as to whether the response was timely, appropriate, and reasonably calculated to prevent further recurrence and harm as required by commonly recognized standards and best practices and in accordance with state and federal laws.School Liability Expert Group has the nuanced and extensive practical experience to offer an expert opinion on the promptness of the administrator’s response to a situation.
Find Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying Expert Witness Services and Consultation
School Liability Expert Group offers HIB case expert witness services and consultation to both plaintiff and defendant attorneys in matters of student or child harassment, intimidation, and bullying in schools and other child- and youth-oriented agencies. Our expert team will conduct an analysis of your HIB case, identifying the school’s duty to protect, the standard of care, the proximate cause of the incident, and the severity of the injury or other harm. With this information, our expert witness team specializing in intimidation, bullying, and harassment in education can ascertain the viability of the case on behalf of either the plaintiff or the defendant. We can help interpret harassment, intimidation, and bullying legal standards in the US and Canadian school systems.
Schools most commonly lose HIB-related lawsuits because they knew or in exercise of reasonable care should have known of the bullying incidents and failed to take any action. A student bullying expert witness can review school policies and student records for both the bully and victim to render an opinion as to whether the school’s actions (or lack thereof) directly lead to the bullying student injury. For schools and agencies, our HIB case expert witness services can help them improve their policies and minimize the risk of litigation. Book a call with an expert from School Liability Expert Group to discuss how we can assist you with your harassment, bullying, or intimidation case.
