Negligence: Child Abuse Reporting-Teacher Defendant-Public Duty Doctrine

Where a student and her mother challenged the dismissal of her petition for negligence against a teacher, to whom the student disclosed that another teacher was pursuing a relationship with her, the dismissal of the petition for failure to state a claim is affirmed because the relevant statute and school board regulation did not create a duty to a particular student, only to the general public, under the public duty doctrine, so plaintiffs could not pursue a private cause of action, and the defendant’s cross-appeal claim also fails since the defendant was not aggrieved by the judgment.

Judgment is affirmed.

E.M. v. Gateway Region Young Men’s Christian Association (MLW No. 74909/Case No. ED108227 – 16 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Quigless, J. (Matthew J. Padberg, Theresa A. Appelbaum and Nicole Burlison Knepper for appellant) (Joshua E. Douglass and Brittany L. Newell for respondent).