Background Check Questions Revive Student Sex Assault Case

A California school district must face claims that it failed to adequately screen a teacher accused of sexually assaulting a high school student, a state appeals court ruled.

Officials with the Glendale Unified School District in Glendale, Calif., failed to verify a basic background check on Delvon Jackson that would have raised questions about his sexual proclivities, the California Court of Appeal, Second District, said March 1.

The unpublished decision reversed a summary judgment for the school district on the student’s negligent hiring and failure-to-protect claims.

Jackson was fired in 2013 from his job as a vocational teacher after the ...