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A number of student lawsuits concerning school disciplinary actions (e.g., illegal search and seizure, unreasonable corporal punishment) have been filed under Section 1983. School officials may have qualified immunity from Section 1983 lawsuits. The standard for qualified immunity applicable to government (school) officials is as follows: “Government officials performing discretionary functions are shielded from liability for civil damages unless their conduct violated clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known” (Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 1982, p. 817). Hummel et al. (1985, p. 78) suggested that school personnel generally will not be held liable in Section 1983 lawsuits as long as they are “acting clearly within the scope of their authority for the betterment of those they serve” (e.g., Landstrom v. Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, 1990).

Professional malpractice suits are civil lawsuits (torts) filed against individual practitioners under state statutory and common law. Professional malpractice occurs when, in the context of a psychologist–client relationship, a client suffers harm and it is determined that the harm was caused by departure from acceptable professional standards of care (Bennett et al., 2006). The likelihood of a psychologist being sued for malpractice is small. Over a 20 year period, under 2 percent of psychologists had a malpractice suit filed against them (Novotney, 2016). As noted, whether an individual school-based practitioner is immune from liability under state law during performance of their job duties varies from state to state. Psychologists in private practice, however, can be held liable for malpractice in all states.