Jury orders S-E to pay $75,000 in damages to elementary student
SHERBURNE – The Sherburne-Earlville school district was ordered to pay $75,000 in damages to a student last week following a civil trial. Jurors found the district was negligent in denying a second grader access to restrooms during a bus trip from Syracuse in 2007.
At least five of the six jurors agreed Sherburne-Earlville teachers acted negligently when they denied repeated requests from a 9-year-old student to pull over a school bus so she could use the bathroom.
S-E Superintendent Gayle Hellert said the school intends to appeal the decision and offered no further comment.
The district’s defense attorney Mark O. Chieco of Petrone and Petrone in Utica, also said the school will file an appeal, explaining he couldn’t comment because of the pending litigation.
During the hour and 15-minute bus ride from a zoo in Syracuse, the victim’s aunt, who testified at the trial and was a chaperone for the trip, said she also urged teachers to stop the bus, but to no avail. The aunt testified her niece asked to use the bathroom about 15 minutes after the bus left Syracuse.
Over an hour later, the girl lost control about 10 minutes from Sherburne and urinated on the school bus, said the plaintiff’s attorney, Ronald R. Benjamin of Binghamton.
Contradicting a stance by the district that other students were not aware of the accident, Benjamin said the incident was immediately apparent to peers as urine flowed beneath the seats and through the aisle. He also told jurors classmates could overhear the discussions between the teachers, the aunt and victim.
Benjamin also entered into evidence a medical diagnosis showing the girl contracted a urinary infection, which the defense argued was a direct result of the incident. The mother testified her daughter had never contracted such an infection before.
Benjamin said the lack of compassion by employees made the district responsible for the cost of the resulting social embarrassment and medical issues.
The mother testified that her daughter was removed from school for two days following the incident because of “abdominal pain.”
“Obviously the jury would not have awarded that kind of money if they didn’t think this girl suffered tremendous emotional trauma and physical pain at the hands of its employees’ negligence,” said Benjamin.
Benjamin said the jury had no limits on the amount it could have awarded.
The mother sued the school in October 2008 following the June 28, 2007 school field trip to Syracuse.
Benjamin said the family decided to file a lawsuit against the district after complaints and discussions with officials failed to produce satisfactory results. Both the mother and aunt wrote letters to school officials in the days following the incident that were submitted into evidence.
“For something (victim’s name) and I were looking so forward to, ended up a terrible memory,” wrote the aunt in her letter. “I am sure if this happened to one of your children and the teacher did what you did, you would be furious.”
The trial began by selecting six jurors for the civil panel at 9 a.m., March 1. The plaintiff called three witnesses to the stand, the mother, the victim, who is now 12 years old and the aunt who accompanied her on the field trip.
The defense called two witnesses to the stand, S-E teachers Tracie Vinal and Dana Eaves, who supervised students during the trip and reportedly denied the victim’s requests to stop during the bus ride.
The jury began deliberations at about 1:55 p.m. and returned with a decision by 4:15 p.m. in favor of the plaintiff and awarded her $75,000 in damages.
The defense’s witnesses testified students were given the opportunity and told to use the restrooms before the bus began its trip back to the district. They also testified the victim didn’t appear distraught when she returned to class following the incident. On the stand, the girl had a hard time recalling many of the specifics of the incident, but testimony from her aunt offered more details for the defense’s version of events to jurors, explained Benjamin.
Hellert was unable to confirm how the school would pay for the lawsuit or if it would affect this year’s budgeting figures.
At least five of the six jurors agreed Sherburne-Earlville teachers acted negligently when they denied repeated requests from a 9-year-old student to pull over a school bus so she could use the bathroom.
S-E Superintendent Gayle Hellert said the school intends to appeal the decision and offered no further comment.
The district’s defense attorney Mark O. Chieco of Petrone and Petrone in Utica, also said the school will file an appeal, explaining he couldn’t comment because of the pending litigation.
During the hour and 15-minute bus ride from a zoo in Syracuse, the victim’s aunt, who testified at the trial and was a chaperone for the trip, said she also urged teachers to stop the bus, but to no avail. The aunt testified her niece asked to use the bathroom about 15 minutes after the bus left Syracuse.
Over an hour later, the girl lost control about 10 minutes from Sherburne and urinated on the school bus, said the plaintiff’s attorney, Ronald R. Benjamin of Binghamton.
Contradicting a stance by the district that other students were not aware of the accident, Benjamin said the incident was immediately apparent to peers as urine flowed beneath the seats and through the aisle. He also told jurors classmates could overhear the discussions between the teachers, the aunt and victim.
Benjamin also entered into evidence a medical diagnosis showing the girl contracted a urinary infection, which the defense argued was a direct result of the incident. The mother testified her daughter had never contracted such an infection before.
Benjamin said the lack of compassion by employees made the district responsible for the cost of the resulting social embarrassment and medical issues.
The mother testified that her daughter was removed from school for two days following the incident because of “abdominal pain.”
“Obviously the jury would not have awarded that kind of money if they didn’t think this girl suffered tremendous emotional trauma and physical pain at the hands of its employees’ negligence,” said Benjamin.
Benjamin said the jury had no limits on the amount it could have awarded.
The mother sued the school in October 2008 following the June 28, 2007 school field trip to Syracuse.
Benjamin said the family decided to file a lawsuit against the district after complaints and discussions with officials failed to produce satisfactory results. Both the mother and aunt wrote letters to school officials in the days following the incident that were submitted into evidence.
“For something (victim’s name) and I were looking so forward to, ended up a terrible memory,” wrote the aunt in her letter. “I am sure if this happened to one of your children and the teacher did what you did, you would be furious.”
The trial began by selecting six jurors for the civil panel at 9 a.m., March 1. The plaintiff called three witnesses to the stand, the mother, the victim, who is now 12 years old and the aunt who accompanied her on the field trip.
The defense called two witnesses to the stand, S-E teachers Tracie Vinal and Dana Eaves, who supervised students during the trip and reportedly denied the victim’s requests to stop during the bus ride.
The jury began deliberations at about 1:55 p.m. and returned with a decision by 4:15 p.m. in favor of the plaintiff and awarded her $75,000 in damages.
The defense’s witnesses testified students were given the opportunity and told to use the restrooms before the bus began its trip back to the district. They also testified the victim didn’t appear distraught when she returned to class following the incident. On the stand, the girl had a hard time recalling many of the specifics of the incident, but testimony from her aunt offered more details for the defense’s version of events to jurors, explained Benjamin.
Hellert was unable to confirm how the school would pay for the lawsuit or if it would affect this year’s budgeting figures.
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