A teacher who was shot by her six-year-old student in Virginia can press forward with her US$40 million lawsuit against a school system over claims of negligence by school administrators, a judge ruled on Friday.
The surprise decision by Newport News Circuit Court Judge Matthew Hoffman means that Abby Zwerner could get much more than just workers’ compensation for the serious injuries caused by January’s classroom shooting.
Lawyers for Newport News Public Schools had tried to block the lawsuit, saying that Zwerner was eligible only for workers’ compensation. It provides up to nearly 10 years pay and lifetime medical care for injuries.
Photo: AP
Zwerner’s attorneys countered that workers’ compensation does not apply because a first-grade teacher would never anticipate getting shot, as “it was not an actual risk of her job.”
Hoffman sided with Zwerner, writing that her injuries “did not arise out of her employment” and therefore did not “fall within the exclusive provisions of workers’ compensation coverage.”
“The danger of being shot by a student is not one that is peculiar or unique to the job of a first-grade teacher,” he wrote.
In early January, the six-year-old pulled out his mother’s handgun and shot Zwerner as she sat at a reading table in front of her first-grade class. She rushed the rest her students into the hallway before collapsing in the school’s office.
Zwerner was hospitalized for nearly two weeks and endured multiple surgeries after a bullet struck her hand and chest.
She sued in April, alleging that school officials ignored multiple warnings that the boy had a gun and had routinely dismissed ongoing concerns about his troubling behavior.
Police have said the shooting was intentional, while Zwerner says that school officials knew the boy “had a history of random violence” at school and home, including when he “choked” his kindergarten teacher.
“This victory is an important stepping stone on our path towards justice for Abby,” Zwerner’s attorneys, Diane Toscano, Jeffrey Breit and Kevin Biniazan, said in a statement.
“We are eager to continue our pursuit of accountability and a just, fair recovery,” they said. “No teacher expects to stare down the barrel of a gun held by a six-year-old student.”
Zwerner no longer works for the school system. A tentative trial date for her lawsuit is scheduled for January 2025.
VENEZUELAN ACTION: Marco Rubio said that previous US interdiction efforts have not stemmed the flow of illicit drugs into the US and that ‘blowing them up’ would US President Donald Trump on Wednesday justified a lethal military strike that his administration said was carried out a day earlier against a Venezuelan gang as a necessary effort by the US to send a message to Latin American cartels. Asked why the military did not instead interdict the vessel and capture those on board, Trump said that the operation would cause drug smugglers to think twice about trying to move drugs into the US. “There was massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people and everybody fully understands that,” Trump said while hosting Polish President
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
A French couple kept Louise, a playful black panther, in an apartment in northern France, triggering panic when she was spotted roaming nearby rooftops. The pair were were handed suspended jail sentences on Thursday for illegally keeping a wild animal, despite protesting that they saw Louise as their baby. The ruling follows a September 2019 incident when the months-old feline was seen roaming a rooftop in Armentieres after slipping out of the couple’s window. Authorities captured the panther by sedating her with anesthetic darts after she entered a home. No injuries were reported during the animal’s time on the loose. The court in the
RSS