NOT GETTING SUED

Elizabeth P. Stedman, J.D.Asst. Area Coordinator

Rutgers - Camden

NOT GETTING SUED

1. Today’s talk does not constitute legal advice.

2. Always listen to your university’s legal counsel over anything I say today.

3. I am not a lawyer for Rutgers, and nothing I say today represents the opinions of Rutgers.

4. Today I am trying to increase your sense of legal implications.

A DISCLAIMER

1. Duty2. Residents’ Mental Health 3. Defamation4. Torts: Keeping the Place Safe5. Searches6. Fights7. Sexual Harassment8. 1st Amendment9. Times of Crisis10.Incident Reports11.Specific Situations

NOT GETTING SUED

• Usually seek $$$• Trying to right a non-

criminal wrong• Lower standard of proof: “preponderance of the evidence,” i.e., “more likely than not”

• Involves a crime• State v. citizen

• Penal• Higher standard of

proof: “beyond a reasonable doubt”

Civil Cases Criminal Cases

TYPES OF CASES ABOUT WHICH YOU SHOULD BE

CONCERNED

DUTYBeyond that time with the phone.

RESIDENTS’ MENTAL HEALTH

Just tell someone

•REPORT EVERYTHING. • REPORT EVERYTHING.• REPORT EVERYTHING.

RESIDENTS’ MENTAL HEALTH

• Your position → a duty to report

• You do not have choice whether to report

• E.g., family problems, school stress, eating disorders, OCD, difficulties with roommates, homesickness, bullying, dating violence, etc.

RESIDENTS’ MENTAL HEALTH

DEFAMATION

• False statement concerning a person

• Told/written to a 3rd person

• Caused harm to original person

• Slander: Spoken defamation

• Libel: Written defamation

DEFAMATION

DEFAMATION

• Defamation per se (defamatory because you said/wrote it):

• Imputations of criminal conduct• Allegations injurious to another in

their trade, business, or profession• Imputations of loathsome disease• Imputations of unchastity in a

woman

TORTS: KEEPING THE PLACE SAFE

Duty (your position entails certain duties)

Breach Causation Damages

TORTS:NEGLIGENCE

Most slip, trip and fall incidents preventable with general

precautions and safety measures If you see water, ice, upturned

carpets, potholes, loose tiles, anything over which someone could trip, loose wires, papers,

etc.

TORTS:KEEPING THE PLACE SAFE

SEARCHES

4th Amendment: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,

papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be

violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath

or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and

the persons or things to be seized.”

SEARCHES

• “Reasonable” searches:• Consent• Plain view• Emergencies• Health and safety

SEARCHES

FIGHTS

FIGHTS

• Do not touch residents

• Keep self safe first• Do not be a hero• Mentally record

everything• Contact police

ASAP

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

PREVENTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIMS AGAINST YOU

• Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states: “[n]o person in the United States shall, on the

basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to

discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

• Do not touch residents even in friendly manner• Do not use sexual slang

• Do not display sexual images• Do not make sexually suggestive remarks even in

jest• Remember to keep your Facebook pages clean

PREVENTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT BY OTHERS IMPLICATING YOU

• Can also face liability for Title IX violations in cases of sexual harassment where a victim reports the behavior to a

school official, and the school official acts “deliberately indifferent”

• “School official” = anyone a student could reasonably expect as having the

authority to act• Therefore, violation if behavior reported

to you, and you do nothing

1ST AMENDMENT

1ST AMENDMENT

• 1st Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an

establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the

people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a

redress of grievances.”

1ST AMENDMENT

• 1st Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an

establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the

people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a

redress of grievances.”

1ST AMENDMENT

TIMES OF CRISIS

TIMES OF CRISIS

• Residents will do bad things. • Not your job or your problem to resolve their

behavioral or legal dilemmas.

• They will be the first ones to throw you under the bus if they are involved in legal

trouble.

• DO NOT TALK.• Listen to everything and mentally

record.

TIMES OF CRISIS

• NEVER NEVER NEVER:• Openly cast judgment

• Tell them “everything will be okay.”• Tell them “it’s not your fault”

• Side with them• Give them legal advice

• Tell them how to avoid the police/security

INCIDENT REPORTS

INCIDENT REPORTS

• Never lie.• Details will protect you!

• Details show how you were proactive in a situation.

• Detail resident involvement. Will either help or hurt them. Not your job

to protect them from the consequences of their bad behavior.

SPECIFIC SITUATIONS

SPECIFIC SITUATIONS

SPECIFIC SITUATIONS

SPECIFIC SITUATIONS