School District Settles with Family of Boy Who Was Burned by Teacher
A personal injury lawsuit against the Salt Lake School District filed after a parent complained her child was burned by a teacher has come to an out-of-court settlement. The school district paid the woman just over $50,000 in the settlement. The woman filed the lawsuit in April of last year after her son, who suffers from cerebral palsy, suffered burns to most of his left hand.
The lawsuit contends that the special education teacher at the elementary school the boy was attending stuck the boy’s hand in a bowl of scalding hot water. The report states the teacher’s intention was to teach the students between hot and cold temperatures. Since the boy suffered a mental disability that prevented him from speaking or walking, he may have been unable to express any pain he may have been sensing. There is no information in the report whether any other disciplinary actions were taken against the special education teacher.
Although teaching students about the differences between hot and cold temperatures is a good lesson that would inevitably help to prevent them from getting injured by such temperatures, there are many things that could have been done to prevent this incident. The teacher could have easily checked the water temperature prior to sticking the boy’s hand in it, preventing any burn injuries. Unfortunately, because the teacher acted negligently and did not check the water temperature, the boy’s hand was severely burned. While this incident was most likely an accident, a personal injury lawsuit is still warranted and the teacher should be held liable for the injuries to the boy’s hand because of her negligence.
