>:(

Teacher sues student over hall collision
Saturday, March 29, 2003

By BILL DUHART
Courier-Post Staff
VOORHEES
An elementary school teacher has sued a student who ran into her in a school hallway.
In the suit filed in February in Superior Court in Camden, Eileen Blau says the injuries cost her money for medical care and curtailed normal activities.

The lawsuit claims Daniel Allen, who was then 11 and weighed about 90 pounds, "negligently and carelessly" collided with her at an "excessive rate of speed."

The second-grade teacher at E.T. Hamilton School said she suffered "severe and multiple injuries, some of which are permanent in nature."

A Camden County Sheriff's deputy served the summons to the Allens at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. Stacy Allen, Daniel's mom, said the deputy apologized, with a chagrined look, when told the summons was being delivered to a 13-year-old.

Stacy Allen said she was a lot more than chagrined.

"I think it's terrible that a teacher can sue a student," Allen said. "Maybe he should not have been running in the hall, but I think it was an accident. When you send a kid off to school, you expect him to be supervised and taken care of. You never expect a teacher to sue a child for running into her."

Calls for comment Friday to Blau, her attorney Craig R. Fishman and school Superintendent Raymond J. Brosel Jr. were not returned.

Steven Baker, a spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, an advocacy and labor bargaining unit for 162,044 educators statewide, said a case like this is a first.

"I've never heard of a situation like this before," Baker said. "I assume it is quite uncommon."

Stacy Allen said the school principal, Kristine diCoio, told her the incident, which happened on April 11, 2001, was an accident. Allen said Blau filed a claim with the family's homeowners insurance for her injuries in the fall of 2001. She said her insurance company said the claim was not settled.

Allen said she never told her son about the teacher's actions because she didn't want to upset him. When a sheriff's deputy showed up Wednesday, the secret was out.

"He didn't understand why someone would want to do this to him," she said. "He said `Why does she hate me? Why is she doing this. I said I was sorry.' "

Daniel said he was running to catch a bus home when he ran into Blau. He said he cried in the principal's office the next day when he found out Blau was hurt.

"I'm sorry I ran into her," Daniel said. "I don't think she should be suing me. I didn't want to hurt anybody. It was an accident."

A trial date has not yet been set. Stacy Allen said the family is still deciding on whether to get a lawyer.

This isn't the same lady who sued McDonalds cuz her kid was overweight is it?  :-/  

This is INSANE!  >:(

Lawyers: On the front line of the battle to make the world safe from negligent and careless 11-year-olds.  
Let's hope they're not too late...

It's sad to hear that this child is getting a rude lesson about the way some people can be so early in his life. BTW wouldn't workers comp have paid for this "teachers" medical since it happened at work? Just wondering.  ???

So here's what I think:

Worker's comp would definitely be paid, personal health insurance would kick in, etc. etc.

The kid could file for bankruptcy.

In a best case scenario, the case would be tossed out before they even had to go to court, unless the judge is a moron.

Or, he might just let the case go on to enrage the jurors so that they could countersue the teacher for wasting their time.

It's America, you can sue anyone for anything.  But that doesn't mean you'll win ;)

These days, students are learning a different kind of lesson in the classroom: Anything is possible if you have money and a good attorney.

More parents are suing their children's teachers, arguing that their children deserve better grades or should be allowed to graduate from high school despite a failing grade, educators say.
    •In Arizona, high school officials allowed a student to graduate after her parents threatened to sue a teacher who failed her and didn't allow the student to receive her high school diploma.
    •In Ohio, a student and her mother sued a school district and 11 teachers for $6 million, arguing that the school's grading practices punished the girl for her repeated absences. The case has been dismissed.
    •In Kansas, parents threatened to sue school officials after a biology teacher failed 28 of her 118 students on a project she said students plagiarized. As a result, the local school board reduced the students' penalties and ordered the teacher to change the project's weight within the total semester grade. The teacher resigned.
    Bad grades, poor attendance and bad behavior used to be offenses punishable by suspension or, in severe cases, expulsion. But those offenses are now easily downgraded or reversed as long as the parents have a good lawyer, education analysts say.
    "I wouldn't be surprised to see more lawsuits in the future," said Krista Kafer, a senior policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington. "We've become a litigious society that's using the law to get what we want."

To Perry- How is that blood pressure doing?  

To Lucky Charm- I wish I could say your post was "Majically Delicious" but unfortunately I've read of those intances too and they p!$$ me off as much as this case does.

How stupid is this?  Hopefully they will get the same judge that threw out the "my kid is fat because of McDonald's" case. >:(

It's amazing how many idiots are in this world of ours.

Forget "keyboards at 40 paces", CALL MY  LAWYER ;)  :'(  It does get rediculous!

Stupid. Utterly stupid.

Hmmm... does this lawsuit say more about the disgusting greed of the teacher, the blatant stupidity of the teacher, or the disgusting greed brought on by the blatant stupidity of the teacher?

PS:  She's suing over a two-year-old injury?  What are these "permanent injuries"?  Is she in a wheelchair or what?

This is just utter stupidity.  I can't believe someone's insurance didn't pay for this.  When I was in 4th grade, some 6th grader was running down the hallway with a basketball, tripped, and the ball went flying.  My face managed to stop it and I ended up with 9 stitches and a permanent scar in my left eyebrow.  The school paid all the medical bills. (or their insurance did), the parents' insurance offered us a settlement for the scar.  Did she even try to submit it to anyone???

I would consider this a frivolous lawsuit. I hope the kid has a good lawyer who will slam dunk this Hausfrau in court.