New Jersey Supreme Court Expands Sexual Abuse Liability Of Charitable Organizations

In a 5-1 decision yesterday, the New Jersey Supreme Court in Hardwicke v. American Boychior School, (Aug. 8, 2006) held that New Jersey's Charitable Immunity Act only bars claims based on simple negligence, and not those based on intentional, reckless or grossly negligent conduct. The court went on to hold that under the state's Child Sexual Abuse Act that a boarding school can be a passive abuser standing in loco parentis in the household. It held that the state's relaxed statute of limitations in child abuse cases applies to common law as well as statutory claims, and that an employer can be held vicariously liable for child abuse by its employees. Jurist reports on the case.