NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A Newport News judge said he will wait to decide if a former Richneck Elementary teacher shot by a student is covered under workers' compensation, or if her $40 million lawsuit goes to trial.
This information came out of a hearing on Friday, tied to the January shooting in which police say a 6-year-old student shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News.
“This does arise from employment, and it is within the jurisdiction of workers comp,” said John Mumford Jr., an attorney for the Newport News School Board.
Zwerner was at Friday's hearing, and afterwards stood with her attorneys as they addressed the media. Zwerner did not comment.
“It’s overwhelming, she’s doing good though, it’s good to be here, it’s nice to get through this hearing, we look forward to having a trial in this matter,” Diane Toscano, Zwerner's attorney.
Judge Matthew Hoffman said he would make a decision "in a written format within a week" after both sides presented their arguments in court Friday.
Judge Hoffman will then decide whether a teacher shot inside of her own classroom can sue the school system for millions, or if her injuries should be covered under workers’ compensation.
Attorneys for the Newport News School Board are arguing that Abigail Zwerner’s injuries should not be covered by damages in a lawsuit. If this does remain a worker’s compensation case, Zwerner could get around nine years of pay and a lifetime of medical benefits.
Richneck Shooting
Unsealed search warrants reveal new details on day teacher was shot at Richneck
However, in April, Zwerner and her legal team sued the school district for $40 million – a much larger sum than nine years of pay.
Zwerner is the first-grade teacher who was seriously injured after police say she was shot by her 6-year-old student in a Richneck Elementary classroom on January 6.
She resigned in March and filed the lawsuit a month later, accusing the district of ignoring what she says were multiple warnings on the day of the shooting that the boy had a gun.
In their initial response, attorneys for the school board argued that it’s not reality to believe that young children don’t pose any dangers to teachers and that this was a worker’s compensation issue.
However, in August, attorneys for Zwerner and the school board agreed on a stipulation that no first-grade teacher in Newport News schools would expect or anticipate getting shot as part of their job — though the school board's attorneys still argued Zwerner’s injuries were workplace-related, and that this case is for workers’ compensation.
A trial for Zwerner’s lawsuit against the school board is scheduled for January 2025. However, if the judge decides Zwerner’s case is a worker’s compensation issue, we’re told her lawsuit ends.
