LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld governmental immunity for Oxford Community Schools and its employees in two lawsuits stemming from the deadly 2021 shooting at Oxford High School. The decision, issued by a three-judge panel, affirms that the district and its staff cannot be sued for their actions before and during the incident that left four students dead and several others injured.

The court’s ruling comes in response to lawsuits brought by the families of several students killed or injured in the shooting, including Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, Aiden Watson, Hana St. Juliana, and Madisyn Baldwin. These families had argued that school officials failed to act on warning signs exhibited by the shooter, Ethan Crumbley, in the days leading up to the tragedy. The plaintiffs’ attorneys claimed that school counselors, teachers, and administrators missed opportunities to intervene, thereby contributing to the fatal events that unfolded on November 30, 2021.

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Rejecting this argument, however, the court claimed that no reasonable juror could conclude anyone other than Crumbley was responsible for the shooting. 

“While the individual Oxford defendants had some signs [the shooter] might be a danger to himself or others … it is simply outside the realm of possibility that a reasonable juror could conclude anyone but [the shooter] was ‘the one most immediate, efficient, and direct cause of the [plaintiffs’] injuries,’” the panel wrote, according to The Detroit News.

The doctrine of governmental immunity, reaffirmed by this ruling, continues to play a primary role in protecting Michigan’s public institutions from legal action. As the court said, “governmental immunity is not an affirmative defense, but is instead a characteristic of government.”

The ruling has been a major setback for the families of the victims, who have sought to hold the district accountable for what they argue was a preventable tragedy. Attorneys for the plaintiffs, including Ven Johnson and Chris Desmond, have announced their intention to appeal the decision to the Michigan Supreme Court. 

They maintain that school employees failed to report signs of neglect and abuse in Crumbley’s home, which they argue was required by law, and that the district’s actions—or lack thereof—made them a proximate cause of the shooting. The plaintiffs also argue that Michigan’s governmental immunity laws violate their equal protection rights under the state constitution, a claim that the Court of Appeals previously rejected. 

For now, the legal system has reaffirmed the protections granted to public schools and their employees. Nonetheless, the case may still advance to the Michigan Supreme Court as the plaintiffs plan to appeal.

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This decision follows a March 2023 ruling by an Oakland County Circuit Court judge that similarly dismissed civil lawsuits against the district, citing Michigan’s governmental immunity laws.