New law would protect public schools from sex abuse lawsuits, but not private schools

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California may soon have vastly different standards for public and private schools when it comes to sexual misconduct if a pending bill becomes law, as expected.

Senate Bill 131 would exempt public schools and their employees from lawsuits related to sexual abuse of students prior to 2009, but would leave  private schools vulnerable to the same type of lawsuits for incidents dating back as long as 40 years, Catholic San Francisco reports.

“To add insult to injury, SB 131 even protects the actual abuser from being sued – the only claims that are revived are against private employers and nonprofit organizations,” Ned Dolejsi, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, told the news site.  (more...)

New law would protect public schools from sex abuse lawsuits, but not private schools