Burns v. Gagnon
Annotate this CaseThese companion appeals arose out of a personal-injury suit brought by a former high school student who was injured in a fight with another student on school grounds. On the morning of the fight, an assistant principal received a report that the fight would occur sometime that day, but he did not act on the report before the fight. The injured student sued two students and the assistant principal, asserting claims for simple and gross negligence, assault, and battery. The circuit court entered judgment against all three defendants, awarding the injured student a total of $5 million in damages. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding that the circuit court erred by (1) holding that the assistant principal was not entitled to the protection of sovereign immunity from Plaintiff's simple negligence claim under the common law; and (2) refusing Plaintiff's proffered jury instruction on gross negligence. Remanded for a new trial limited to Plaintiff's gross negligence claim against the assistant principal.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.