Judge dismisses suit against Union College
A Lancaster County judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Union College filed by the family of a 16-year-old boy photographed nude by a student worker.
The family sought $3 million from the school in the suit filed in 2005. It alleged the college was negligent in hiring and supervising Travis Lane.
But in an order this week, District Court Judge Jeffre Cheuvront said there was “absolutely no evidence to support a conclusion that Lane was not qualified and competent to perform the duties of swimming instructor or janitor.”
In fact, he said, Lane had an excellent work record at the Larson Lifestyle Center, where he was a janitor and swimming instructor from 2001 to 2005. There had been no complaints.
Outside of work, Union College staff did discipline Lane twice for possessing alcohol against school rules. In April 2005, he was dismissed from school for sharing his prescription medication with other students.
Two months later, he was hired as a non-student worker.
After pictures that Lane took of the teenager streaking surfaced, Union College fired Lane, and he was charged criminally. He’d given alcohol and Xanax to a teenage boy he worked with at the pool, according to court records.
In July 2006, a judge sentenced Lane to 60 days in jail for attempted possession of child pornography and probation for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Cheuvront said Lane and the teenager agreed they went to great lengths to hide a wine cooler Lane took to campus in a gym bag and gave to the student.
Other incidents were off campus.
“Union College was under no duty to supervise the activities of employees during their time away from work and at non-work locations,” Cheuvront wrote in a nine-page order.
He said the fact that Lane, who was older than 21, possessed alcohol had no bearing on his qualification to be a swimming instructor and janitor.
Nor did his sharing of prescription medication with other students, he said.
It certainly didn’t give Union College reason to anticipate Lane would furnish alcohol to a high school student or take pictures of him nude, Cheuvront said.
“The plaintiffs, in effect, are attempting to place a higher duty on Union College because the Seventh-day Adventist religion prohibits the possession or consumption of alcohol,” he said.
Reach Lori Pilger at 473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.
The family sought $3 million from the school in the suit filed in 2005. It alleged the college was negligent in hiring and supervising Travis Lane.
But in an order this week, District Court Judge Jeffre Cheuvront said there was “absolutely no evidence to support a conclusion that Lane was not qualified and competent to perform the duties of swimming instructor or janitor.”
In fact, he said, Lane had an excellent work record at the Larson Lifestyle Center, where he was a janitor and swimming instructor from 2001 to 2005. There had been no complaints.
Outside of work, Union College staff did discipline Lane twice for possessing alcohol against school rules. In April 2005, he was dismissed from school for sharing his prescription medication with other students.
Two months later, he was hired as a non-student worker.
After pictures that Lane took of the teenager streaking surfaced, Union College fired Lane, and he was charged criminally. He’d given alcohol and Xanax to a teenage boy he worked with at the pool, according to court records.
In July 2006, a judge sentenced Lane to 60 days in jail for attempted possession of child pornography and probation for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Cheuvront said Lane and the teenager agreed they went to great lengths to hide a wine cooler Lane took to campus in a gym bag and gave to the student.
Other incidents were off campus.
“Union College was under no duty to supervise the activities of employees during their time away from work and at non-work locations,” Cheuvront wrote in a nine-page order.
He said the fact that Lane, who was older than 21, possessed alcohol had no bearing on his qualification to be a swimming instructor and janitor.
Nor did his sharing of prescription medication with other students, he said.
It certainly didn’t give Union College reason to anticipate Lane would furnish alcohol to a high school student or take pictures of him nude, Cheuvront said.
“The plaintiffs, in effect, are attempting to place a higher duty on Union College because the Seventh-day Adventist religion prohibits the possession or consumption of alcohol,” he said.
Reach Lori Pilger at 473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.
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