Legal Question in Personal Injury in Georgia

Re: arm/hand injury at school

I assume from the context that this occurred in a public school in Georgia, probably in a rural county.

In Davis v. Dublin City Bd. of Educ., 219 Ga.App. 121, 464 S.E.2d 251, 105 Ed. Law Rep. 332 (Ga.App. 1995), the guardian of a minor student brought a negligence action against board of education and school principal for injuries sustained when the student tripped over rug placed at entrance to school. The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the defendants, holding: (1) the board of education was entitled to sovereign immunity and principal was entitled to official immunity from liability for injuries sustained as result of negligent performance of discretionary official acts related to the door and mat; and (2) an amendment to the complaint alleging failure to repair cracked glass door constituted willful and reckless disregard for safety of underaged persons was unsupported by any evidence.

A couple of months ago the Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment in a playground slide injury case arising in Appling County because the injury occurred before the passage of a constitutional amendment that controlled the Davis case. I believe that the Davis case, applying sovereign immunity of the school board and official immunity of the school personnel, would be controlling in your case. I would be surprised if a judge or jury would find "willful and reckless disregard for safety" in letting children play tug of war at recess as we all did as children, unless the circumstances were really extreme.

If your child was injured at a private school, the immunity issue would not be involved and the standard would be ordinary negligence.

Of course all of this is complicated by the fact that you teach there.

You could check to see if the school board carries any sort of medical payments coverage that would be minimal but applicable.

If the doctor who did surgery did so on an emergency basis, perhaps your plan would cover that, since there was no else available. It's worth a shot.

Re: arm/hand injury at school

I agree with the legal analysis of Mr. Shigley except I would want to know the facts more clearly. If a teacher was directly invoved or there had been prior incidents might make a big difference. I would like to talk with you more about this before giving a definitive opinion. Ron Lowry (770)427-8468