O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1000 (2019)

Limitation on civil damages for disciplining student; frivolous or nonmeritorious actions; legal counsel for the educator

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)

Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.

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(a) As used in this Code section, the term “educator” means any principal, school administrator, teacher, school counselor, paraprofessional, school bus driver, volunteer assisting teachers in the classroom, tribunal members, or certificated professional personnel. (b) No educator shall be liable for any civil damages for, or arising

out of, any act or omission concerning, relating to, or resulting from the discipline of any student or the reporting of any student for misconduct, except for acts or omissions of willful or wanton misconduct. (c) If a judgment or finding is rendered in favor of a defendant educator in any action, complaint, disciplinary proceeding, or other administrative proceeding brought by a student, a parent or guardian of a student, or any other person on behalf of a student and arising out of or resulting from the discipline of such student or if the complaint is found to be nonmeritorious, frivolous, or without just cause, all reasonable court costs, reasonable attorneys’ fees, and reasonable expenses incurred by the defendant educator in defending such action or complaint shall be assessed by the court, agency, or other tribunal against the plaintiff and shall be paid by the plaintiff. Any educator shall have a right to bring an action or a counterclaim against the plaintiff in any such action or proceeding for any damages suffered by the educator as a result of the actions of the student or the filing of any frivolous or nonmeritorious action, complaint, or report. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to apply to any educator filing a complaint as required by the rules, regulations, or code of ethics of the Professional Standards Commission; any child abuse reporting statute; any applicable local board of education rule, regulation, or policy; or any State Board of Education rule, regulation, or policy. (d) If any civil action is brought against any educator or any report or complaint is made or filed against any educator with the county or local board of education, the Department of Education, the Professional Standards Commission, or any other regulatory agency or tribunal by a student, a parent or guardian of a student, or any other person on behalf of a student and arising out of or relating to the discipline of such student, it shall be the duty of the county or local board of education employing such educator to provide counsel for the educator, if requested by the educator, unless such board of education determines, after an independent investigation of the report or complaint, that the act or omission of the educator constituted willful or wanton misconduct or constituted gross misconduct in violation of the express written policies of the board of education. Neither testimony given in such independent investigation nor the results of any such independent investigation by the board of education shall be admissible in any other proceeding. The provision of counsel to such educator shall be for an educational purpose and any funds available to the board of education may be expended for such purpose. Any attorneys’ fees recovered pursuant to subsection (c) of this Code section attributable to the services furnished by any counsel provided to an educator by his or her employer shall be paid to the employer.

ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUC.

History

Code 1981, § 20-2-1000, enacted by Ga. L. 1995, p. 772, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1436, § 10; Ga. L. 1998, p. 750, § 9; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 20; Ga. L. 2013, p. 1061, § 33/HB 283.

Annotations

Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 1997, p. 1436, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the Act shall be known and may be cited as the “School Safety Act.”

Ga. L. 1998, p. 750, § 11, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that all cases pending before the Professional Practices Commission on June 30, 1998, shall be transferred to the Professional Standards Commission. Law reviews. For article commenting on the 1997 amendment of this Code section, see 14 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 155 (1997).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Claims held barred. - Parent’s suit against school officials based on the parent’s participation in a disciplinary action against the parent’s child was barred by official immunity as the facts the parent

alleged did not show malicious, wilful, or wanton conduct. Gamble v. Ware County Bd. of Educ., 253 Ga. App. 819, 561 S.E.2d 837, 2002 Ga. App. LEXIS 225 (2002).

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. Proof of Facts. Liability of School Bus Driver or School

for Injury to Child Going to or from School Bus, 13 POF3d 475.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 11 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2002–2025 · leading case: Gamble v. Ware Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 561 S.E.2d 837 (Ga. Ct. App. 2002).

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Gamble v. Ware Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 561 S.E.2d 837 (Ga. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 8× “28 Furthermore, under OCGA § 20-2-1000 (b), “[n]o educator shall be liable for any civil damages for, or arising out of, any act or omission concerning, relating to, or resulting from the discipline of any student or the reporting of any student for misconduct, except for acts…”

Griswold v. Collins, 734 S.E.2d 425 (Ga. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 8× “Collins also asserts that she is entitled to immunity from Griswold’s suit under OCGA § 20-2-1000 (b), which provides that “[n]o educator shall be liable for any civil damages for, or arising out of, any act or omission concerning, relating to, or resulting from the discipline…”

The State v. Pickens, 769 S.E.2d 594 (Ga. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 2× “Considering the evidence presented at the hearing, we conclude that the trial court was authorized to find that a preponderance of evidence showed that Pickens acted in good faith and was entitled to the benefits of the immunity statute.”

Hart v. State, 738 S.E.2d 331 (Ga. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 2× “”); OCGA § 20-2-1000 (a) (defining “educator” as “any principal, school administrator, teacher, guidance counselor, paraprofessional, school bus driver, volunteer assisting teachers in the classroom, tribunal members, or certificated professional personnel”).”

D.H. v. Clayton Cnty. Sch. Dist., 52 F. Supp. 3d 1261 (N.D. Ga. 2014). · cites it 4× “O.C.G.A § 20-2-1000 as providing great deference to educators for acts relating to discipline of students, the Court finds that the facts of this case may demonstrate that McDowell acted with gross indifference or reckless disregard of D.”

Larosa Asekere v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 8× “4 With respect to civil liability, OCGA § 20-2-1000 (b) provides: “ No educator shall be liable for any civil damages for, or arising out of, any act or omission concerning, relating to, or resulting from the discipline of any student or the reporting of any student for…”

Bd. of Trs. of Georgia Military Coll. v. Rose O'Donnell (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 6× “On appeal, GMC argues that the trial court erred in (1) denying its motion to dismiss based on the discretionary function exception to a waiver of sovereign immunity under OCGA § 50-21-24 (2); (2) denying its motion for summary judgment where OCGA § 20-2-1000 (b) provides for…”

Idris Griswold v. Audrey Collins (Ga. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 6× “Collins also asserts that she is entitled to immunity from Griswold’s suit under OCGA § 20-2-1000 (b), which provides that “[n]o educator shall be liable for any civil damages for, or arising out of, any act or omission concerning, relating to, or resulting from the discipline…”

Ashley Wilson v. Christine Anderson (Ga. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 2× “Wilson also argues that OCGA § 20-2-1000, particularly subsection (b),16 is unconstitutional and thus cannot be relied upon by the Administrators to avoid liability.”

Persadi ex rel. Persadi v. Fulton Cnty. Sch. Dist., 24 F. Supp. 3d 1249 (N.D. Ga. 2014). · cites it 2× “3 Boyd answered Persadi’s complaint and filed a counterclaim against Persadi for damages under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1000. 4 Boyd also brought cross-claims against the Fulton County School District for breach of contract, for a declaratory judgment, and for a writ of mandamus.”

Travis Hart v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 2× “”); OCGA § 20-2-1000 (a) (defining “educator” as “any principal, school administrator, teacher, guidance counselor, paraprofessional, school bus driver, volunteer assisting teachers in the classroom, tribunal members, or certificated professional personnel”).”

— 20-2-1000(b) — 1 case

D.H. v. Clayton Cnty. Sch. Dist., 52 F. Supp. 3d 1261 (N.D. Ga. 2014). “O.C.G.A § 20-2-1000 as providing great deference to educators for acts relating to discipline of students, the Court finds that the facts of this case may demonstrate that McDowell acted with gross indifference or reckless disregard of D.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.