Governmental Claims and Sports Injury

Results Confidential

A young high school shop student was asked along with fellow students at the end of the year to help his shop teacher move equipment on a dump truck. The students loaded equipment and then got on the back of the truck. Instead of closing the tailgate and fastening the pins himself, the teacher let a student do it and did not check it. One boy was seated on a dolly truck with wheels. When the truck went up a hill, the dolly rolled backwards, hit the tailgate and it fell open, dumping the student onto his head on the asphalt pavement. He sustained a concussion and closed head injury. He was out of school for a while. Chapter 258 procedures were followed, suit filed, discovery completed and the case went to trial after a jury of 12 plus 2 alternates were chosen and seated in Hampden Superior Court in Springfield. After Attorney Goodman put the teacher on the stand and cross-examined him, the attorney for the city asked for a recess and offered close to the full statutory limit to close the case. The boy and his mom considered and accepted the settlement offer.