Q: Can the class teacher be held responsible for negligence in Washington?
Can the class teacher be held responsible for negligence? During another teacher's class, a student pushed another, resulting in minor injuries. The class teacher learned of the incident only after it occurred and didn't respond in the class WhatsApp group as it was a police matter. The school requires teachers to control students, and although a similar incident occurred before, not in this class, the school and teacher have since apologized to the family.
A: Highly unlikely. The teacher would have to have more or less intentionally allowed the conduct to occur. In most public or semi-public settings, a person is not responsible for the unlawful acts of another. For example, a bus driver is not going to be held responsible if one passenger punches another passenger. The intentional action by the passenger to assault someone is beyond the bus driver's control. If the teacher was acting negligently and tripped or pushed a student themselves, that would be a different story.
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