Safety at School: Negligent Security Claims On-Campus

Each year thousands of students at universities and colleges become crime victims. More and more, college students who are victims of a criminal attack on their college or university grounds seek to hold the institution responsible for not providing adequate security on campus. By filing a negligent security claim, the student may recover damages for his or her injuries.

If you or a loved one has been assaulted on a college or university campus, you should consult an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible to secure your legal rights and remedies.

Establishing a Special Relationship

In order for a student to have a claim against a university for negligent security, it must be shown that the university owed a duty to the student to protect him or her from the danger, that the university breached that duty, and that because of that breach, the student was injured. Failure to prove any one of these elements will lead to the student losing the lawsuit.

In order to show the university owed a duty to the student, a special relationship between the student and university must be established. A majority of state courts have rejected the argument that a special relationship exists between universities and their students without more. Given the independence that students exercise on campus and over their lives while at college, there has to be another rationale for the existence of the special relationship. The most common grounds claimed are:

Business-invitee: while students are in college, participating in college activities and on college-owned property, they are invitees of the university. Several states have found universities liable under a business-invitee model.
Landlord-tenant: many courts have likened universities to landlords if they provide campus housing for students. In these jurisdictions, courts have imputed the same duties of a landlord to its tenants to universities and students living in dorms.

Foreseeability

After it has been established that the university and the student have a special relationship, the student must be able to show that the attack was a foreseeable event that the university was or should have been aware of and taken reasonable steps to prevent. Often, statistical evidence and experts will be used to argue the act was foreseeable based on past criminal activity on campus.

Universities do not have a duty to protect against all possible dangers at any cost. Their duty only extends to taking reasonable steps to protect against foreseeable dangers. Whether the measures taken by the university are reasonable will be determined by the court. The court may use a balancing test, weighing the likelihood of harm and potential for danger against the availability and costs for prevention.

Causation

Once the student has established that a special duty exists between him or her and the university, the act was foreseeable and the university failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it, the student must show that the injury directly resulted from the university's breach of its duty of care. The university may raise several defenses to causation, including that the student's own negligence or assumption of risk led to the injury. For example, if the student was harmed or killed in a hazing incident at a fraternity party, the university may attempt to claim the student assumed the risk by partaking in the activity.

Conclusion

If you have suffered personal injuries because of an attack at a university or college or if your child has been attacked while away at school, contact an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible. An attorney with experience in the area of negligent security understands the steps necessary to commence a negligent security claim against an institution of higher learning and will recognize the evidence that demonstrates that the university or college has failed in its duty to provide a safe learning and living environment.

DISCLAIMER: This site and any information contained herein are intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Seek competent legal counsel for advice on any legal matter.