Injury Law Adviser

Recently I handled a case in which a very young child had been sexually molested by an older student on numerous occasions while riding home on a school bus. We brought a lawsuit against the boy who performed the sexual acts as well as against the school which owned the bus. We claimed that since the children were emotionally disturbed children, the bus should have had a monitor on it at all times.

Another theory which we had was against the bus driver for failing to be alert. How could there have been numerous incidents without the bus driver knowing about them unless he was not paying attention? We settled the case for hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is just one example of the lack of supervision that may result in a good case against the school for lack of supervision.

Many of you may have heard the word “Bullying” lately. It means that some children are being physically or mentally pushed around or actually harmed by others in school. Very often nothing is done about this and it takes its toll. The child who is the subject of these bullies very often becomes depressed, anxious, sad, alone or becomes the opposite at home by hitting his brothers and sisters.

Regardless of how your son or daughter reacts to this you have the right to have this bullying stopped while your child is in school. We have handled cases like this and have received awards for our clients because the school personnel was aware that this was taking place yet nothing was done to stop it. If your child is the one who is being bullied report it immediately to the school and demand that something be done. And if this has been taking place and your child has been suffering, then call an experienced attorney to find out if you have a good case against the school

All parents expect their children to be supervised and watched by their teachers just as they would watch their children and they are right because that is what the law provides. When your children are in school, they are to be taken care of just as if they were parents of the children. In one case which we are handling, a young boy was badly scarred when he was playing volleyball.

The pole which was holding up the volleyball net had a screw sticking out of the pole. The youngster jumped up to spike the ball onto the other side of the net and when he came down, his arm came into contact with the screw. The screw ripped off his skin, leaving him with a gaping hole in his arm. We sued the school for improper supervision and for having a dangerous instrumentality (a pole with the screw sticking out of it). We have already received offers to settle the case but are waiting for the school’s attorneys to offer more money.

Just remember. When you send your child to school, they should be supervised in the same manner that a parent would and if they are not and they are hurt then you may have a good case against the school.

Your child’s school probably has a school crossing guard who is supposed to watch and guide your child while crossing the street. That is how it should be. In one very famous case, there was usually a crossing guard but she was absent one day and nobody was assigned to take her place.

Well, guess what. On that very day, one of the children attending the school was hit by a car and very seriously injured. The question which the court had to answer was whether the City of New York was responsible for not assigning another crossing guard or not. The City argued that it had no duty to supply any kind of guard at all. However, the highest court of the state said otherwise.

In other words if the City had never assigned a crossing guard, then they would not have had to assign one, but once they assigned one it was the obligation of the City to have a guard present at all times.

Did you know that when your child is in school, the law says that the staff of the school is supposed to act as if they were the parents of your child? In one case, there were many children in the school cafeteria throwing food at each other. Fifteen minutes after this began, my client slipped on some of the food which was on the floor of the cafeteria.

I claimed that there were not enough teachers in the cafeteria to supervise all of the children there, thereby allowing the children to throw food. I was able to achieve a settlement from the Board of Education because they were afraid of going to trial knowing that a jury would have found a case against them.

Therefore, if your child has been injured in school, consult with a personal injury attorney who will meet with you without charge to see if you have a good case or not. And remember, you don’t have to pay the attorney until the case is ended in your favor.

Has your child sustained an injury in school? Were you told by a lawyer that you had no case? Well, you should always go for a second opinion if one attorney turns down your case. I recall a time that a client came to my office after another attorney told her that her son had no case. The child had been playing basketball and he unfortunately ran into a wall trying to recover the ball.

Even though this may not sound like a case, I took it and achieved a nice settlement. Why? Because I claimed that the school should have had padding on the wall of the gymnasium because the court was so near to the wall. I could not understand why the first attorney turned the case down when the facts made it obvious to me that if there was padding on the wall the accident never would have occurred.  Proper school supervision is critical.  A lack of supervision can result in serious injuries.

So, if your child is injured in school, even if you think there is no case, consult with one or two personal injury attorneys who will tell you whether you have a case or not. And don’t be discouraged if the first attorney turns you down. As you know the consultation is free so always get a second opinion.