NJ Schools Add Alleged Bullies to Lawsuit

A New Jersey judge has ruled that a school district can try to make the families of alleged bullies pay if the district is held liable in a negligence lawsuit.

The ruling last week is part of a lawsuit filed by a former student at Flemington-Raritan Schools and Hunterdon Central High School. He said the schools did not protect him from ridicule and bullying by classmates, who made fun of his weight and his perceived homosexuality.

The case appears to be the first of its kind.

The schools sought to have the alleged bullies' parents added to the case as third parties because they did not stop their children from tormenting the plaintiff.

Their lawyers argued that lawsuits brought under New Jersey's anti-bullying law cannot be aimed at students.

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