All that can be said about a recent $100,000 settlement to a Utah teen by her school district over an accident that occurred during an in-class demonstration is, "It probably seemed like a good idea at the time." Learn more about this peculiar case and how certain actions can overcome a school's sovereign immunity against being sued.

What is sovereign immunity?

Sovereign immunity protects public entities, like the state or local government, against certain lawsuits. In essence, a public school is an extension of the state or local county's government, which cannot be sued unless it first grants permission for the lawsuit. In order to sue a school, there are extra steps that have to be taken and certain exceptions that the lawsuit must meet. 

Usually, the exception that will enable you to get permission to sue the school is when an injury occurred due to an act of extreme or gross negligence, rather than just being the result of an ordinary accident (like a fall in gym class while playing basketball). In addition, it's important to remember that you need to take extra steps to file the lawsuit, like sending a letter expressing the intention to sue, which gives the school a chance to respond (possibly with a settlement offer). You may also be required to make your intentions known within a very short period of time -- often a matter of months, instead of the years that you normally have under your state's statute of limitations for personal injury cases.

What type of case counts as extreme or gross negligence?

The Utah case, involving a 13-year-ol student, is a prime example. The teacher was trying to demonstrate the difficulties of functioning correctly and the dangers of being drunk by having students wear "drunk goggles" and then play games. The goggles were designed to simulate the difficulty of doing even small tasks, like walking, while drunk. The kids in the experiment were delighted, playing tag inside the classroom -- something that could cause a problem even while not wearing eyewear designed to simulate drunkenness.

Predictably, just like a real drunk might, the 13-year-old girl got her foot stuck on a desk and broke her ankle in multiple places. She's left with permanent damage, including one leg that's slightly shorter than the other and pain. She also had been a budding track team member and had to switch to something easier on her legs, like golf. Under the deal with the school, part of the settlement will go to repay the girl's medical costs and her attorneys and the remainder will go into a trust that she can access once she is an adult.

The predictability that letting a bunch of kids wearing "drunk goggles" chase each other around a classroom full of things to trip or fall on causing an accident is enough to be considered gross or extreme negligence -- a responsible move would have been to have a couple of the students wear the goggles at a time, with other students making sure that they didn't hurt themselves.

If you think your child was injured at school as a result of gross or extreme negligence, contact a personal injury lawyer for advice.