Legal Question in Education Law in California

Re: Keeping Sick Students at Home

Interesting question. In addition to being a lawyer, I'm also a university professor and former administrator. We have received a number of "alerts" and advisories over the years about how to deal with flu epidemics. Plainly, university personnel have a duty to deal with the contagious nature of flu. This could lead to damages if we breached the duty and someone died or was seriously hurt because of our negligence. At this time, I do not believe that students have a similar duty; however, a prudent university administrator would have an "offical" duty to make sure that you did not infect others. If you knowingly spread a harmful flu, e.g., the "swine" flue or SARS, that duty and liability might extend to you. However, there might be difficulties tracing the origins of a contagious spread to you in any legal action.