Adults lose battle to sue Pa. agencies over sexual assault

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Pennsylvania’s law that lets children sue entities like school districts over sexual assault does not apply to adults, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

Public school districts and other government agencies can claim immunity from cases involving kids attacked by non-employees but can still be found liable if a judge finds the agency “negligently enabled the sexual abuse to occur,” a recent case involving Philadelphia’s library system showed.

A former inmate in a Philadelphia jail sought to sue over sexual assault by other inmates, hoping to use the same waiver of immunity children can use. But the state Supreme Court ruled March 26 that language in the law makes it clear that waiver only applies in minors’ cases.

“Whether or not we agree with policy decision to waive immunity only if the victim is a minor is irrelevant,” Justice Daniel McCaffery wrote in a footnote. “’It is the chief function of the General Assembly to set public policy’ and we may not use our judicial review power ‘as a means to substitute our own public policy judgments for those of the General Assembly.’”

It’s a loss for adults and plaintiff lawyers, as the Pennsylvania Association for Justice filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiff’s interpretation of the law. The group said allowing agencies to invoke immunity will insulate prison guards and others from liability for crimes.

The suit was filed in 2021, with the plaintiff claiming he was sexually assaulted in a holding cell because he is gay. His lawsuit alleged the City was negligent in failing to train and monitor its employees, staff the prison and protect inmates.

Philadelphia invoked immunity under the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act. The plaintiff said sexual abuse is one of nine claims when immunity can be waived, but courts have found that to be the case only if the victim was a minor at the time.

A Philadelphia judge first ruled against the City’s argument, only to reverse course while an appeal was pending at the Commonwealth Court. The law allowing the waiver of immunity incorporates a section pertaining specially to a victim who “was under eighteen years of age at the time offense.”

The Commonwealth Court had ruled the same in a similar case in 2021, as did a federal judge in another lawsuit.