Washington Supreme Court
Jeanette Vallandigham v. Clover Park School District No. 400
April 7, 2005154 Wash. 2d 16
Summary
The Washington Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the Clover Park School District, holding that two employees injured by R.M., a severely disabled special education student, could not sue in tort under the deliberate-intention exception to the Industrial Insurance Act (RCW 51.24.020) because the district did not have actual knowledge that injury was certain to occur; substantial certainty is insufficient, and the inherent unpredictability of the student's behavior plus the district's escalating remedial measures precluded certainty. The court also held that a reasonableness or negligence standard — including inquiry into the effectiveness of an employer's remedial measures — cannot be used to establish willful disregard, disapproving Stenger and Hope to the extent inconsistent. Justice Sanders, in a dissent joined by Justice Chambers, questioned the certainty/substantial-certainty distinction and would have allowed a jury to decide whether the district knowingly exposed teachers to highly probable injury.