Holding Students Responsible for School Employees’ Workers’ Compensation Injuries
Unfortunately, school fights occur far too often throughout schools in Maryland. While one typically assumes the victims of these fights are fellow students, often times victims are also the teachers and other school employees who intervene in an effort to break up those fights.
In cases where a teacher or other school employee does intervene and subsequently end up with their own injuries, they often will file workers’ compensation claims to cover their treatment and other losses related to those injuries sustained at the hands of violent students. But why should the school and its insurer be responsible for a violent student’s behavior?
Well, they shouldn’t – and that is what a Charles County court agreed to by awarding a school’s insurer restitution for the full amount paid for a school employee’s injuries sustained at the hands of a violent student.
In April 2024, at a school in Charles County, a fight broke out between two students, and a school Youth Engagement Advocate intervened to break up the fight. In doing so, one of the students pushed the school employee into a brick wall, resulting in a facial injury.
The student who was responsible for the school employee’s injury ultimately had a complaint filed with the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) for two counts of assault 2nd Degree/Battery and two counts of Affray.
The injured school employee filed a claim and received workers’ compensation benefits from the school’s insurer to cover his medical and indemnity expenses associated with the student’s assault against him.
The DJS initially declined to proceed with juvenile court action against the student, as they thought an issued reprimand and warning to the student against future involvement in delinquent activity was sufficient. The DJS further elaborated that this specific student had no prior legal history, he was doing well academically, and he was suspended at home, where he would be able to participate in school virtually for the upcoming year.
Aggrieved by this decision, the injured school employee and the school’s insurer banded together to appeal this decision, and further seek civil restitution from the juvenile and their parents under Maryland Code, Criminal Procedure sections §11-603(a)(3) and §11-604.
Under §11-603(a)(3), the court is given grounds for ordering restitution paid by a Defendant or child respondent if a victim incurred medical expenses that were paid by the Maryland Department of Health or any other governmental unit. In this specific case, the victim, the injured school employee, received medical treatment, which was paid for by the Charles County Board of Education, a governmental agency, through MABE, a self-insurance group. That said, under this statute, the Charles County Board of Education was entitled to restitution in the form of the payment of the medical expenses incurred as a result of the medical treatment received by the injured school employee.
Section §11-604 provides that if a child is the Defendant or child respondent, the court may order the child, the child’s parent, or both to pay restitution. In this case, since the Defendant was a minor, the injured school employee and the school’s insurer argued that the Defendant’s parents can and should be held liable for payment of restitution if the Defendant is unable to do so.
In support of this argument to award civil restitution in this case, evidence was presented to the Assistant State’s Attorney showing that the student had a past history of involvement in school fights not only at the school in Charles County, but other prior schools they attended, along with other behavioral incidents.
Ultimately, the injured school employee and the school insurer’s request for civil restitution from the juvenile’s parents was granted, and the insurer was entitled to reimbursement for the full amount of benefits paid to the school employee as a result of their injuries.
Overall, this is a great victory for school employees and schools for not only holding students, but also their parents, responsible for their child’s violent behavior at school.
In light of this decision, it is worth investigating these types of workers’ compensation claims involving injuries to school employees by students to see if the offending students have a past history of violence. If so, schools and their insurers can then work alongside those injured school employees and the State Attorney’s Offices to seek restitution for their injuries in order to better hold these students accountable for their actions and help prevent school employees from being injured.
Written by Samantha L. Schilling, Esq.
