Former West Side High School student, Raymond Little believes he contracted HIV after being seduced by his band teacher. Little missed the deadline for initiating legal proceedings, but the state appeals court ruled that he can still sue the Newark school district.
Citing "extraordinary circumstances," the state appeals court ruled that Raymond Little can sue the Newark school district, even though he missed the legal deadline, because he was devastated by his medical diagnosis and ignorant of the legal requirements of filing a lawsuit.
Little had complained that the teacher Hassan Vann attempted to seduce him when he was a freshman. He said he told a guidance counselor, the school social worker and the principal that the teacher groped him, and asked to be transferred out of Vann's class, but no action was taken. This account was later corroborated by the guidance counselor and the social worker.
Two years later, when Little was a junior, Vann invited him to an apartment where he gave him alcohol and "weed,", and the two allegedly had sex regularly after that. In May 2005, nine months after he graduated, Little tested positive for the AIDS virus.
Little then reported his illness and his past encounters with the teacher to the Newark school board, who notified the police. Little had three months to begin legal proceedings against the school district. A Superior Court judge extended the deadline, but the school district appealed.
The appellate court agreed with the lower court that there were "extraordinary circumstances" and Little should be allowed extra time to file suit.
"(Raymond Little) was two months short of his nineteenth birthday when he learned that he had been injured as a consequence of his teacher's conduct," the court ruling states. "The unexpected news was that he had a condition that not only can lead to death but also carries a stigma."
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