Posted on 10/28/2023 4:00:30 AM PDT by Libloather
A Virginia first grade teacher who was shot in class by a six-year-old student appeared in court on Friday as she bids to claim $40 million in damages.
Abby Zwerner is suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million, alleging gross negligence against school administrators.
But the school board is trying to block the lawsuit, arguing that Zwerner's injuries fall under workers' compensation, and as such are limited to 10 years' pay and limited medical benefits.
Zwerner, 26, spent two weeks in hospital after the January incident, which saw a bullet hit her hand and chest.
She accuses the school of ignoring warnings that the boy had a gun in his backpack.
Moments after the shooting, the six-year-old told a reading specialist who restrained him: 'I shot that (expletive) dead' and 'I got my mom's gun last night,' according to search warrants.
Zwerner attended Friday's hearing before a judge with her left arm still supported by a sling and her left hand wrapped in a thick, cloth bandage.
One of her attorneys, Kevin Biniazan, asked the judge to allow Zwerner's lawsuit to proceed to trial because 'no first-grade teacher expects to be shot at work.'
'The particular danger of encountering a firearm is not in the nature of employment for a first-grade teacher,' Biniazan said.
But Anne Lahren, an attorney for the school board, said the incident 'falls squarely' under workers' compensation because Zwerner was working in her capacity as a teacher.
And Zwerner's lawsuit centers on allegations of negligence at her workplace, which also fall under the law, Lahren added.
Robert Samuel, another school board lawyer, said: 'This doesn't mean that Ms. Zwerner doesn't get benefits and is left out in the cold.'
Matthew Hoffman, a circuit court judge in Newport News, said he'll rule on the matter...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
They knew & did nothing. I think there were at least 4 warnings to administration that day & the gun was seen by students. She deserves every penny.
That sounds a lot like the fact template around old Pedo Joe's son, Hunter ...
“Talented, intelligent, educated people are devoting their lives to helping lower iq, trashy people better themselves.
And they are hated for it……😳”
I question the talent, intelligence, and education of today’s teachers, but I recognize that it is almost impossible to teach students who have no interest in being educated.
I can only talk about this in the context of CA law, and I note from the article that the VA workers comp system is “uncommonly strict.”
Strict workers comp systems exist, for good or ill, to represent the legislative determination that employers having to defend what would be many many lawsuits brought by their employees for negligence would be economically crippling to the state economy. It may seem harsh, and often is, but the constitutionality of WC systems has been repeatedly upheld
Even in CA, if one car clear a very high bar, showing willful misconduct by the employer only gets you a 50% penalty on top of WC damages. Labor Code Sec 4553. That’s it
Of course the teacher can sue the mother but, as is often the case, that’s a dry well.
As with most media coverage of legal issues, this article is lazy and incomplete. If you can show willful misconduct by the employer in VA, does that get you out of WC and into civil court? I infer that’s what the article is saying, but that sounds strange in a system described as “uncommonly strict.”
If she can, where does that $40M number come from? Media never makes clear that the value of lawsuits is a function of the amount of your actual damages. If the kid had missed, case worth maybe $50K. He didn’t miss but the article doesn’t discuss the nature and extent of her injuries. She’s up and around, and medical care is expensive and there’d be wage loss, so let’s say her medical expenses and wage loss were a full half
Mill. Rule of thumb, in a case that settles, that gets you $1.5M. Exceptional pain and suffering here, so double that to $3M. You can’t get punitive damages against the government, so that’s it. On my hypothetical damages, you simply don’t get an 80 multiplier on your actual damages
Best post for the day.
SOMEONE SHOW US ALL THE PARTS OF WORKMEN’S COMP INSURANCE POLICIES THAT DETAIL BEING SHOT BY A 6 YEAR OLD WHEN YOU ARE TEACHING IS COVERED.
The school board is wrong on this.
THEY REFUSED TO CHECK THE CONTENTS OF THE KID’S BACKPACK OR OTHER CARRYALL.
HE ALREADY HAD A HISTORY OF VERY BAD BEHAVIOR.
I HOPE SHE WINS & THAT ADMINISTRATORS WAKE UP.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — More than a year after Abby Zwerner was shot by her 6-year-old student, a Special Grand Jury indicted the school’s former assistant principal Ebony Parker on eight counts of felony child abuse.
The charges were filed in Newport News Circuit Court. WAVY obtained a copy of the indictment, which is dated March 11, 2024.
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