Appeals Court Reverses $12-million Verdict Against School, Ruling That Parents are Responsible When School is Out
 
 MIAMI - A Florida appeals court has reversed a $12-million verdict, ruling that the Archdiocese of Miami and Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll High School were not liable in a 2001 car crash that killed one student and left another a quadriplegic.
 
                Gabriel Maynoldi and Michael Sanchez-Agramonte, both 17, attended an unsupervised drinking party, after school let out for the summer, at a private home several miles from the school.  After leaving the party, Maynoldi's car crashed into a tree while going over 80 mph and split in two.  Sanchez-Agramonte was killed and Maynoldi, who police determined had been driving drunk, was left quadriplegic with catastrophic brain injuries.
 
                "At some point, we believe that a school's obligation of reasonable supervision must come to an end and the parent of guardian's duty of supervision must resume," the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed. "That logical point, we think, should be when the student leaves the school's premises during non-school hours and is no longer involved in school-related activities."
 
                The panel concluded: "No conscientious juror or judge could (or can now) feel anything but the deepest sympathy for the tragic results of Gabriel's accident. But our legal system requires more than heartfelt sympathy and demonstrable damages as predicates for the compensation of injured persons."
 
                Litigation Consultation and Education Expert, Dr. Edward F. Dragan, who was engaged by the defendant school district in this case, concluded that the school owed no duty of supervision to the students at the time they were attending the party.  He stated "The school year was over and the school did not sanction or sponsor the event."
 
Florida Third District Court of Appeal, No. 3D08-1648: Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll High School et al., v. Jose Luis and Olga Maynoldi, Feb. 10, 2010.

Link to Full Decision