Abby Zwerner's Lawsuit Can Proceed — Judge Rules It's NOT a Workers' Comp Issue

Getting shot by a student is not just part of the job of being an educator.

And I was excited to see today that Abby Zwirner has prevailed in court over the Newport News school district's claim that her being shot by a six year old was just part of the job.

And she should have to use workers comp and not sue the district for $40 million, which is what she has done.

So now her lawsuit will be able to proceed.

She will be able to seek damages from the district through the courts and not have to rely on the workers' compensation system.

I agree with the judge here that this was not a reasonable thing for educators to have to foresee.

This is not a normal workplace injury.

Like, tripping over backpacks is a normal workplace injury for educators, a reasonable risk.

Getting a paper cut is a reasonable workplace risk.

You know, getting marker on your hands is a reasonable workplace...

But getting shot by a student is not, in no universe, should this ever have been an okay thing for the district to argue.

So I'm glad the judge has tossed that argument.

I'm glad this lawsuit gets to proceed.

And I'm glad that there is likely to be some accountability for the negligence that led to this situation, right?

There were multiple warning signs.

There were multiple opportunities where...

administrators could have intervened and searched the student and prevented this from happening.

And I think there are very legitimate questions as to why the student was even in school at all, given the risk that the student posed.

I think we've got to take teacher safety much more seriously.

And I hope that the courts can assist with that because I don't know what else they're going to listen to.

I don't know what else districts are going to do and what state policymakers are going to do to take teacher safety more seriously because it seems to be everybody's last concern, right?

I've said in previous videos that often you are the cheapest person to inconvenience or you are the cheapest person to put in harm's way.

We can prioritize students and fearing parent lawsuits and giving parents what they want and accommodating the worst student behavior till the cows come home if teachers can't stand up for themselves, if teachers can't sue to protect themselves, then this kind of thing is just going to keep happening.

So I'm very excited to see how this lawsuit turns out.

I'm glad that Abby Zwirner is alive, and I'm glad she is able to continue pursuing this lawsuit.

But let me know what you think.

Should this ever have been framed as a workers' comp case?

Do we need more lawsuits like this to keep related things from happening?

Leave a comment.

Let me know what you think.