Virginia teacher shot by 6-year-old can proceed with US$40 million lawsuit, judge rules
Published:Saturday | November 4, 2023 | 2:14 PM
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — A teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student in Virginia can press forward with her $40 million lawsuit against a school system over claims of negligence by school administrators, a judge ruled 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, 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.”
Hoffman sided with Zwerner, concluding that her injuries “did not arise out of her employment” and therefore did not “fall within the exclusive provisions of workers' compensation coverage.”
The judge wrote: “The danger of being shot by a student is not one that is peculiar or unique to the job of a first-grade teacher.”
Zwerner was hospitalised for nearly two weeks and endured multiple surgeries after a bullet struck her hand and chest. Zwerner alleges that administrators ignored multiple warnings the boy had a gun that day and had routinely dismissed ongoing concerns about his troubling behaviour.
“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.
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