Teacher sues district over mold in classrooms

A teacher filed a lawsuit against her former school district, alleging that mold was present in her classrooms and that the mold adversely affected her health. She asserted that the school district knew or should have known about the mold and its effect on her health and that she experienced significant and permanent deterioration of her health due to mold exposure, including loss of her sense of smell. She sought to recover medical expenses and a bonus that she would have received but for absences necessitated by doctor appointments.

The school district filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that it was immune from liability. The court granted the motion and the teacher appealed to the Court of Appeals.

In reviewing the lawsuit, the Court of Appeals noted that generally, a school district is immune from suit because it is a governmental entity. The only exceptions to this are in situations where the Texas Legislature has waived that immunity in clear and unambiguous language. In this case, no such waiver is in place. The Court of Appeals upheld the trial court's decision and dismissed the lawsuit.