Array
You may recall the case of Abigail Zwerner, the elementary school teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student in January of this year. Despite being seriously injured, she ushered her class out of the room before collapsing. She spent the next two weeks in the hospital.
Zwerner eventually resigned and sued the school district for $40 million arguing that administrators had advance warning the student had brought a gun to school that day and that he had a history of violence toward teachers.
The school district’s response to the lawsuit was that Zwerner’s claim should be dismissed on the grounds that any issues related to the shooting were covered by worker’s compensation. In essence the district argued that being shot by a 1st grader was just one of the risks of the job of being a teacher.
“Plaintiff was clearly injured while at work, at her place of employment, by a student in the classroom where she was a teacher, and during the school day,” the school board argues. “Teaching and supervising students in her first grade class was a core function of Plaintiff’s employment. Thus, Plaintiff’s injuries arose out of and in the course of her employment and fall under Virginia’s Workers’ Compensation Act[.
