text: can a school employee be sued for emotional distress for innappropriate letters to student? school secretary sent sexually suggestive letters to student implying of a lesbian relationship. student was confused and won't admit to anything other than "friendship" but has since been admitted to psych unit of hospital. student moved out of parents home.  school has dismissed the secretary, but did nothing to protect the student from this happening even after being notified by parents that there was a problem.  school resource officer is a board of education member, so it looks like this incident has been swept under the rug to avoid embarrassment to the school district.  parent of student is also a board member..  secretary is threatening to sue school district because of being let go.  parents have suffered severe emotional distress relating to this incident and relations with student are non-existent as of now.  i feel like the school did nothing to protect my child from this and when they were told what was happening, they did no investigating of any kind. sounds like the secretary may have committed criminal impropriety if the student is under the age 18 (16 in some states). this should be handled by law enforcement. as for suing an employee of a civil service employer, usually the answer is no.   based on what you said, you could try and sue the school board.  state laws vary so the information you provided wasn't clear enough. i would consult an attorney in your state on this issue.  if the child is over 18, no crime would be committed.