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Educators ‘outraged’ after attorneys argue 1st-grade teacher shot in school is ‘workplace injury’ (www.denverpost.com)

submitted 1 year ago by DevCat@lemmy.world to c/usa@lemmy.ml

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/3089104

NEWPORT NEWS — The Newport News Education Association President condemned the premise of the school division’s motion to dismiss Abigail Zwerner’s pending $40 million lawsuit.

The motion was filed last week by attorneys representing the School Board and argues that Zwerner, who was shot in her classroom at Richneck Elementary in January by a 6-year-old student, is only entitled to file a worker’s compensation claim because the injury she sustained from the shooting is a “workplace injury,” and that the shooting was a hazard of the job.

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[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 42 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

If we're not going to enact common sense gun laws and protections for the public, then it is a workplace injury. She should still be allowed to sue those responsible for not protecting her and the children in her care, but when you normalize school shootings this is what you get. If a cop can say getting shot is a workplace injury and receive compensation for the rest of his life, so should she.

[–] aard@kyu.de 48 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If I understand the article correctly they're trying to say it's a workplace injury to cap the payout to something lower than she was trying to get.

[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago

That's absolutely what they're saying. And I don't agree that the payout should be capped. Especially when in some places it's not capped for cops. But on the other hand... This is the worst time line.

[–] NounsAndWords@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

The way the law is set up (and thus the reason the lawyers are arguing it) is that you can't sue your employer for a workplace injury, it is purely a workers compensation (insurance) claim, and those do not pay any millions of dollars, and also the school would be covered by their insurance.