YORK – Two defendant bus companies have denied responsibility for the alleged sexual assault of a five-year-old minor last October who was riding the bus on her way to school, saying the plaintiffs have not properly made a case for their charges of negligence.
John Doe of Brogue and Jane Doe of Red Lion (as parents and natural guardians of Jane Roe, a minor) first filed suit in the York County Court of Common Pleas on Jan. 16 versus Krapf Group, Inc. of West Chester and Red Lion Bus, Inc., of Red Lion.
(An amended complaint was also filed against the defendants on Feb. 8.)
The plaintiffs said their daughter was sexually assaulted last Oct. 16 while riding the bus to school, and provided the student assailant had a history of sexual assault.
In order to support this claim, the plaintiffs, in their amended complaint, attached a note from a parent of another child, allegedly also assaulted by that same student assailant.
The note, labeled “Bus incident. October 17th”, reads:
“Bus incident. October 17th. Mr. [Michael] Langan, the Principal of Clearview Elementary called me…to inform me that she was involved in an incident on the bus. He stated that [my child] was kissed and touched inappropriately by another student. He said he reviewed the bus tapes and had seen it on the tapes. This is the only time he has contacted me. I had asked my daughter what this kid did to her, and she said he pulled her shirt out, looked down her shirt and would touch her in places that are private. She also stated it happened more than once. Also, Mr. Langan stated when he called that he was going to review the bus tapes for two weeks. My daughter’s dad called school and talked to Mr. Langan, and he told…my daughter’s dad that he was going to take care of it, to not take it to the news or anything, to keep hush hush.”
The suit blamed the bus companies for failing to adequately staff the bus with monitors, despite knowing of the student assailant’s history of sexual assault, and added that the defendants failed to report the assault to ChildLine.
According to the suit, the young girl now allegedly suffers from post-traumatic stress, psychological trauma, mental anguish, humiliation and loss of enjoyment of life, among other problems.
UPDATE
On Feb. 28, the defendants filed preliminary objections to the suit, arguing that the plaintiffs failed to properly plead their claims.
“Plaintiff’s claims, however, each fail for a similar reason – plaintiff fails to allege that the bus defendants had requisite knowledge that (a) An assault was occurring, (b) Bus defendants’ were on notice of a prior assault creating a risk of harm to plaintiff, and (c) The bus driver was unfit to be employed by the bus defendants. The bus defendants therefore had no duty to take the actions plaintiffs claim were necessary, as the alleged incident was unforeseeable,” the objections stated, in part.
“Because plaintiffs fail to state a cause of action for negligence and negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention – and in fact presents evidence precluding liability on behalf of the bus defendants for either claim – the amended complaint should be dismissed in its entirety with prejudice.”
According to defense counsel, the plaintiffs “offer no allegations whatsoever as to when the driver learned of the alleged assault, such that he had an opportunity to intervene or respond” and “any non-conclusory allegations about the alleged assault are limited to the single claim that it occurred on the bus on October 16th, 2023.”
“Here, plaintiffs claim the bus defendants failed to employ a multitude of safeguards, all of which are contingent upon the assumption that the bus defendants knew of the assailant’s alleged prior history. The note attached to the first amended complaint, however, has several contradicting aspects that infer the bus defendants in fact lacked notice of the alleged prior incident, and even places in doubt whether the other alleged assault happened prior to the assault of [child] plaintiff,” the objections continued.
“Most noticeably, the parent’s note is labeled “Bus Incident. October 17th”, indicating the ‘prior’ incident actually occurred on October 17th, one day after plaintiffs claim the assailant assaulted her on October 16th. The note itself provides no other details that suggest this other incident occurred before the 17th. What remains is plaintiffs’ contradicting allegation that this other incident occurred before the assault of [child] plaintiff. But when a complaint is based upon a document, the court should consider only the document, not the contradicting allegations characterizing the document. Based upon the plain language of the note, the Court must therefore conclude this other incident occurred one day after plaintiff claims to have been assaulted, thereby precluding a finding that plaintiff sufficiently pled facts that defendants had the requisite knowledge of assailant’s propensities. What is more, the note speaks only towards – and attributes blame to – the non-party elementary school principal. According to the mother of the other student, it was Principal Michael Langan who learned of the incident, reported it to the parents, and promised to ‘take care of it.’ The note does not state that the principal informed the bus defendants of the alleged prior incident.”
For counts of negligence and negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention, the plaintiff is seeking damages, jointly and severally, in excess of $50,000, plus economic damages, actual damages, past and future medical and psychological expenses, future lost wages and future lost earning capacity, compensatory damages for pain and suffering, humiliation and embarrassment, loss of enjoyment of life and life’s pleasures, punitive damages, interest, costs, delay damages, and such other and further relief as the Court may deem just, proper and equitable.
The plaintiffs are represented by Justin Robinette in Philadelphia.
The defendants are represented by Patrick S. Smith and Ashley R. Lynam of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, both also in Philadelphia.
York County Court of Common Pleas case 2024-SU-000155
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com