LINCOLN, Neb. (Legal Newsline) – A Nebraska school district is not responsible for dog bite injuries that occurred on its property after school.
The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled June 19 in favor of Lincoln Public Schools and against a mother and daughter who were bitten by a leashed dog on a playground. Though the girl, 8 years old at the time, was only bitten in the hand, the mother’s injuries to her abdomen required surgery.
But it’s not LPS’ fault, the court ruled, as the no-dogs policy at Sheridan Elementary School only applied to school hours.
The Lambert family claimed testimony from a teacher who supervised after-school clubs and stayed with students until they were picked up by a parent did not mean the no-dogs policy extended beyond normal school hours.
“Even construing this testimony in the light most favorable to the Lamberts and giving them every reasonable inference, this testimony had nothing to do with LPS employees monitoring the playground area or enforcing the ‘no dogs’ policy after hours,” Justice Stephanie Stacy wrote.
The lawsuit was filed under the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act, but the trial court and Supreme Court found that LPS was immune from suit under its discretionary function exception. Sheridan’s no-dogs policy was more stringent than LPS’ stance on dogs, which required them to be leashed when on school property.
“The record shows Sheridan administrators, in the exercise of this discretion, decided to establish and enforce a ‘no dogs’ policy only during school hours and decided not to supervise the school playground area at all after students have been dismissed for the day,” Stacy wrote.
“How to utilize staff and budget to supervise school grounds and regulate late activities thereon are administrative decisions grounded in social, economic and political policy, and they fall within the discretionary function exception.”