Lawsuit Against York School Officials Continues In February

By Amber Lester Kennedy Thursday, January 06, 2011

A hearing for a wrongful death lawsuit against York County school officials on Wednesday morning was brief, pushing the case forward to February.

Before the case will move forward, substitute York-Poquoson Circuit Court Judge Randolph West will review several documents to determine whether they can be used in the case. The documents include confidential records from the Department of Social Services, along with guidance and disciplinary records from York County Schools.

Alise Williams is seeking $10 million in damages from the school officials for the death of her son, Christian Taylor, who hanged himself at home on May 31. At the time of his death, Taylor was a 16-year-old freshman at Grafton High School. Williams claims the officials — former Grafton High Principal Paul Hopkins, Assistant Principal Craig Reed, Assistant Principal Karen Fahringer and counselor Joseph Erfe — were aware her son was bullied for six months and did nothing to protect him. Taylor had transferred to the school division from Texas in December 2009.

The suit originally included school security officer Deputy Ralph Hood, but Judge R. Bruce Long dropped him from the suit on Sept. 30 because resource officers have no power to suspend or expel students.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Williams’ lawyer Oldric LaBell asked the judge to rule whether the case will be decided by a jury or a judge. West said he’d like to review the documents before making a ruling, but said, “We all know the Supreme Court frowns on judges taking a decision from a jury … it will go to jury, barring anything that can’t go to jury.”

When the case picks back up at 1 p.m. on Feb. 16, the judge will have to decide whether the school officials exhibited gross negligence by failing to force any disciplinary action on the alleged bully. The court papers said a male student aggressively and habitually harassed, verbally abused, insulted, threatened and bullied Taylor; it also said the unnamed student presented an unreasonable risk to the security and well-being of other students.

The State Board of Education and York County School Boards both require the prevention of all verbal abuse, according to the lawsuit.

Read previous stories about the case here, here and here.