Student Suffers Miscarriage After Scuffle with Campus Security and Sues School -- Who Wins?
A federal trial court held that a school board might be liable for the death of a student's unborn child who died after faculty members forcefully removed the pregnant student from school grounds without provocation.
On Apr. 3, 2008, Candice Williams, a pregnant high school senior, participated in track practice. After practice, Williams was waiting in the hallway just outside the school gym when two schoolsecurity guards began asking students in the hallway to leave the building. Williams told the guards that she was cold, pregnant and suffering from anemia, and that she wanted to stay inside until her bus arrived. Overhearing the conversation, a teacher told Williams she was trespassing and told the guards to have her removed.
When Williams refused to leave the building, two off-duty police officers forcibly removed her from the premises. Williams alleged the officers pushed, grabbed, dragged, threw her to the ground and then smashed her body into the ground before arresting her for criminal trespass. Williams was tried for the criminal charges and was acquitted.