§416.4. Civil liability; legal defense and indemnification of all public school employees

A. In addition to the provisions of R.S. 17:416.1(C), 416.3(B) and (C)(2)(a), and 416.6(B), should any public school employee be sued for damages by any student or any person qualified to bring suit on behalf of any student based on any action or statement or the omission of any action or statement by such employee when in the proper course and scope of his duties as defined by the school board employing such employee, then it shall be the obligation of said school board to provide such defendant with a legal defense to such suit including reasonable attorney fees, investigatory costs, and other related expenses. Should any such employee be cast in judgment for damages in such suit, it shall be the obligation of the school board employing such defendant to indemnify him fully against such judgment including all principal, interest, and costs, except that the school board shall not be responsible for any costs which the court stipulates are to be borne by a party other than the employee or school board.

B. If the school board provided the defense and the judgment makes an award to the employee for damages or other awards for costs or any fees, the employee shall reimburse the school board for its costs incurred for the defense. The requirement of reimbursement by the employee shall not exceed the award received by the employee.

C. Nothing in this Section shall require a school board to indemnify an employee against a judgment wherein there is a specific decree in the judgment that the action of the employee was maliciously, willfully, and deliberately intended to cause bodily harm or to harass or intimidate the student or where there is a specific decree in the judgment that the employee purposefully or with gross disregard of the facts ignored the complaints of the student, or the student's parent or guardian, that the student was being bullied and the bullying led to the physical harm or death of the student.

D. It shall be the responsibility of each city and parish school board to notify its employees of the provisions for legal defense and indemnification as provided in this Section and to provide such information in writing in a clear and concise manner to its employees on an annual basis prior to the beginning of each school year.

E. For purposes of this Section, the term city and parish school board shall include the municipal school systems recognized by the provisions of Article VIII, Section 13(D) of the Constitution of Louisiana.

Acts 1983, No. 378, §1; Acts 1997, No. 619, §1; Acts 2012, No. 861, §1, eff. June 14, 2012.