Virginia teacher shot by 6-year-old can proceed with $40 million lawsuit, judge rules

News@lemmy.world – 489 points – 8 months ago

Virginia teacher shot by 6-year-old can proceed with $40 million lawsuit, judge rules

A judge in Virginia has ruled that a teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student in class can press forward with a $40 million lawsuit.

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The school board is basically admitting that teaches are gonna get shot as part of their jobs. That’s so fucked up

First grade teachers at that.

Where did they admit that?

Lawyers for Newport News Public Schools had tried to block the lawsuit, arguing that Zwerner was eligible only for workers’ compensation. It provides up to nearly 10 years pay and lifetime medical care for injuries.

Zwerner’s attorneys countered that workers’ compensation doesn’t apply because a first-grade teacher would never anticipate getting shot: “It was not an actual risk of her job.”

This is the good bit though:

“The actual risk of employment in this scenario is that of a teacher being injured at the hands of a student which, unfortunately, is a fairly common occurrence and one that is only increasing in frequency this day and age,” school board attorney Anne Lahren said in a statement.

“It was not an actual risk of her job.”

So they argued exactly the opposite...

Also anyone who thinks that's a "common occurrence" is delusional.

No, sorry, I probably shouldn't have included that part of the quote. Zwerner is the teacher that got shot, that's her attorneys arguing that. The school is trying to claim it is an unfortunate but common occurrence.

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