Michigan appeals court dismisses lawsuit against Oxford school district
OXFORD, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - The Michigan Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit by victims of the Oxford High School shooting in November 2021.
The case aimed to hold school employees accountable for the tragedy that killed four students, but the Michigan Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court's ruling that their claims do not meet the threshold to overcome governmental immunity.
The defendants would have needed to provide evidence that the school district was primarily responsible for the deaths and injuries during that school shooting.
Governmental immunity is not easily overcome, typically requiring the defense to prove there was gross negligence by the defendants, who in this case would be several Oxford Community School employees as well as the school district itself.
An attorney representing the victims told us why he thinks governmental immunity shouldn't apply here.
"Think that this is the precise cause of action that our legislature intended for citizens to bring when they drafted the law that covers governmental immunity, and our hope is that we can ultimately get the Michigan Supreme Court to agree with that position," said chief appellate attorney Chris Desmond.
Desmond says that would be the next step, appealing to the Michigan Supreme Court. He says they've been preparing for this case to head there regardless of what today's outcome was. His hope is that they'll take a deeper look at those governmental immunity protections and decide if they should apply in this case.
"We'll be filing a brief there, and we'll be asking the Michigan Supreme Court to not only look at the decision of the lower courts in this case but in the series of opinions that have been decided over the years relative to this area of law, governmental immunity," he said.
The mother of one of the survivors of the school shooting says she understands why governmental immunity exists in Michigan, but she says it shouldn't be applied in the context of what happened in Oxford.
"I do understand where a fireman is trying to get someone out of a fire and breaks their leg. They should be protected 100%. I agree with that type of protection for in those positions, but something like this makes no sense to me," said Meghan Gregory, mother of an Oxford shooting survivor.
