306
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
exceed the amount of a federal grant.18 That is surely not relevant to the question whether the school district or the injured student should bear the risk of harm—a risk against which the district, but not the student, can insure. It is not clear to me why the well-settled rules of law that impose responsibility on the principal for the misconduct of its agents should not apply in this case. As a matter of policy, the Court ranks protection of the school district's purse above the protection of immature high school students that those rules would provide. Because those students are members of the class for whose special benefit Congress enacted Title IX, that policy choice is not faithful to the intent of the policymaking branch of our Government.
I respectfully dissent.
Justice Ginsburg, with whom Justice Souter and Justice Breyer join, dissenting.
Justice Stevens' opinion focuses on the standard of school district liability for teacher-on-student harassment in secondary schools. I join that opinion, which reserves the question whether a district should be relieved from damages liability if it has in place, and effectively publicizes and enforces, a policy to curtail and redress injuries caused by sexual harassment. Ante, at 304-305. I think it appropriate to answer that question for these reasons: (1) the dimensions of a claim are determined not only by the plaintiff's
18 Amici curiae National School Boards Association and the New Jersey School Boards Association point to a $1.4 million verdict in a recent Title IX case. See Brief for National School Boards Association et al. as Amici Curiae 5, and n. 4 (citing Canutillo Independent School Dist. v. Leija, 101 F. 3d 393 (CA5 1996), cert. denied, 520 U. S. 1265 (1997)); see also Brief for TASB Legal Assistance Fund et al. as Amici Curiae 23 (same). Significantly, however, the District Judge in that case refused to enter a judgment on that verdict; the judge instead ordered a new trial on damages, limited to medical and mental health treatment and special education expenses. See 887 F. Supp. 947, 957 (WD Tex. 1995), rev'd, 101 F. 3d 393 (CA5 1996).
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