School district rejects claim from teacher shot by 6-year-old student
The Newport News School District filed a motion Wednesday arguing that the teacher who sustained injuries after being shot by a 6-year-old student earlier this year cannot file a $40 million lawsuit in the circuit court, saying her injuries are covered by the state’s workers’ compensation law.
Abigail Zwerner, 25, was shot in the hand and chest early this year while teaching at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, and she needed tone hospitalized for two weeks.
“Plaintiff is not without remedy; her remedy is dictated by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act and the provisions contained therein,” reads the motion. “The Newport News Circuit Court does not have jurisdiction to hear workers’ compensation claims.”
Lawyers for the school district said in a statement to The Hill that Zwerner’s case is the “definition of a workplace injury.”
“In a perfect world, no teacher would ever be injured by one of their students at school … or anywhere,” they wrote. “However, unruly students and bad behavior are all too common in schools across the country, and Newport News is sadly not immune to this.”
Zwerner’s lawyers said in a statement to The Hill that no teacher should expect to risk being shot by one of their students, adding that the school board’s position is not backed up by the law.
“No one believes that a first grade teacher should expect that one of the risks of teaching first grade is that you might get shot by a six-year-old,” attorneys Diane Toscano and Jeffrey Breit said in a statement.
“The school board’s position is contrary to how every citizen in Newport News thinks teachers should be treated, and the law does not support the board’s position. Teachers across the district will be alarmed to learn their employer sees this as part of the job description,” they added.
The mother of the child who shot the teacher was arrested earlier this month and charged with felony child neglect and misdemeanor for “recklessly leaving a loaded firearm to endanger a child,” police said.
Zwerner filed a $40 million lawsuit earlier this month against school officials, alleging they were negligent in heeding warning signs that could have prevented the shooting.
Her legal team said at the time that the school officials failed to address multiple warning signs on the day of the shooting that could have “prevented this tragedy from happening.”
—Updated Thursday at 4:44 p.m.
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