201204.27
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School Bully Injury Compensation Claim Settled Against School

A school district in New Jersey has agreed to pay 4.2 million dollars in school bully injury compensation after allegedly failing to comply with State anti-bullying laws and protect one of its students from the threat of injury.

Sawyer Rosenstein of Woodland Park, New Jersey, was just twelve years of age in May 2006 when a known bully at the Eric Smith Middle School punched him in the abdomen, causing a clot to develop in the artery that supplies blood to the spine and paralysing Sawyer from the waist down.

In a subsequent claim for school bully injury compensation against the Ramsey School District, Sawyer´s parents alleged that his attacker had a history of violent tendencies and cited an incident that had occurred a year earlier when the bully had punched another student in the face on the school bus.

They claimed that school officials kept no record of the incident nor subjected the boy to any discipline, and supported their allegations with an email that had been sent to Sawyer´s guidance counsellor just three months before the attack asking for help to deal with the bullying he was already experiencing.

In the email Sawyer wrote “I would like to let you know that the bullying has increased. I would like to figure out some coping mechanisms to deal with these situations, and I would just like to put this on file so if something happens again, we can show that there was past bullying situations.”

After months of negotiations, the 4.2 million dollar settlement of Sawyer´s school bully injury compensation claim was made in an out-of-court agreement without admission of liability. Sawyer now attends Syracuse University where he is a freshman majoring in communication.

201203.10
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Claim for School Injury Compensation Settled Out of Court

A student, who sustained severe a severe brain injury while playing high school American football, has had his claim for school injury compensation settled out of court for 4.4 million dollars.  

Scott Eveland, now 22, of San Marcos, California, collapsed at the side of the school´s playing field during the half-time interval of a high school American football game in September 2007. Scott was rushed to hospital where he was diagnosed with internal bleeding of the brain and underwent an emergency operation to save his life.

Despite more than a year of rehabilitation, Scott is still unable to walk or stand and can only communicate through a specially designed keyboard. Through his mother – Diane – Scott made a personal injury claim against the district education authority, alleging that the coaches of his football team had ignored warning signs of his condition and forced him to play.

The claim for school injury compensation was supported by a teammate, who testified in a deposition that Scott had missed several practice sessions complaining of headaches and had asked the head coach to sit out the game during which he collapsed because he was feeling unwell.

After their own investigation, the San Marcos Unified School District and Mission Hills High School – the school for which Scott played as a linebacker – agreed to settle Scott´s claim for school injury compensation without admission of liability.

201201.09
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Skull Fracture Claim Settled for Injured Schoolboy

A ten year old boy, who fractured his skull and suffered internal bleeding after falling from a climbing frame at his school, has been awarded 75,000 pounds following a playground accident claim for compensation.

Jamie Griffin from Haverhill, Suffolk, was playing on the climbing frame at the Burton End Primary School in Haverhill when the accident happened in November 2009. Falling almost five feet, Jamie struck his head on concrete blocks at the base of the climbing frame and immediately lost consciousness. He was rushed to hospital and, when he failed to come round after an hour, was given a CAT scan.

Doctors diagnosed Jamie with a fractured skull and internal bleeding which was coming from the main artery to his brain. At one point he was expected not to live but regained consciousness the following morning. His injuries left him temporarily blind and he was unable to return to school for ten weeks.

Following an investigation into the accident, Suffolk County Council was found to be in breach of health and safety regulations and fined. Janie´s mother – Debbie Griffin – bought a playground accident claim against the council and Jamie was awarded 7,500 pounds for his injuries – a compensation settlement which will remain in trust until he reaches eighteen years of age.

201003.28
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School Bullying Victim Awarded $290,000 Compensation

In a judgement that is seen as a warning for schools in Australia to protect students from bullying, The Supreme Court has approved a $290,000 compensation payout by the Education Department to a teenage girl that suffered bullying over an 18 month period at Kerang Technical High School.

The bullying including spitting at the girl, putting chewing gum in her hair, throwing chairs at her, and emptying her locker across the floor. The girl finally left the school when a student allegedly threatened to shoot her.

The parents of the girl had frequent discussions about bullying with the school principal, teachers, and even the school chaplain. The school failed to deal with the problem and also failed to establish procedures to stop bullying and discipline guilty students.

It was claimed that the bullying left the girl a physical and emotional wreck.  The injuries claimed were psychological disturbance, panic disorder, insomnia, an eating disorder, stress-related psoriasis and suicidal thoughts.

More injury claims for children are expected from parents of Kerang Technical High School.

200911.05
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$9.6 Million Compensation For School Drain Accident

A Queensland, Australia, boy has received AU$9.6m compensation following an accident in a drainage system in school that resulted in catastrophic brain injuries.

Myles Albert Hill was sucked into the drain when boogie boarding (also known as bodyboarding, a form of surfing)  in flood waters on the grounds of The Southport School in Brisbane in February 2003.  The boy was stuck under water in the school’s underground drainage system for eight minutes and suffered severe brain damage that made him unable to talk or use his upper limbs properly.

The Anglican Church was the defendant in the case.  An additional $1.2 million compensation was added for management fees in order to run a trust.