NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Pender & Coward, the team representing the Newport News School Board in the Abby Zwerner $40 million litigation, has confirmed that the school board filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits on Zwerner's behalf on Jan. 5, one day before the one-year anniversary of the shooting.
On Jan. 6, 2023, a 6-year-old student shot Zwerner through the hand and into her chest in their first-grade classroom at Richneck Elementary School.
Zwerner was in the hospital for weeks and underwent multiple surgeries due to the shooting and injuries she sustained.
Zwerner filed a $40 million lawsuit in April of 2023 against the school board, accusing the Board and key administrators at Richneck of gross negligence for allegedly ignoring multiple warnings that the student had a gun on the day of the shooting.
Newport News Public Schools had tried to block the lawsuit, stating that Zwerner's injuries fell under workers' compensation.
"Our research has determined that there is legal authority allowing an employer to file a claim for workers' compensation benefits on behalf of an employee with the Workers' Compensation Commission," the legal team said in a statement.
The team told News 3 they filed the claim due to Zwerner's statements in recent interviews "expressing worry about medical expenses arising from her injuries," all of which would be covered by the lifetime medical benefits offered through workers' compensation.
In response to the filing, Toscano Law Group and co-counsel at Breit Biniazan Trail Lawyers told News 3 in a statement, "Once again, the Newport News public school system tries to force school teachers to accept violence as a normal requirement for teaching our young children."
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There is a two-year statute of limitations for seeking the benefits, and the attorneys said they did not want to "see these significant benefits jeopardized by letting the deadline for filing lapse" a year from now.
The school board's legal team filed a claim Jan. 5 for Zwerner, "arising from her workplace injuries" and requested a hearing in front of the Workers' Compensation Commission.
They are asking that Zwerner be awarded full benefits, including lifetime medical benefits, which she would receive immediately following the award, and maximum wages allowed under the Workers' Compensation Act.
"They try to cloak themselves with fairness for Abby Zwerner by forcing her to accept workers' compensation, which is nothing more than normalizing violence against teachers," Zwerner's attorneys said in a statement.
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A judge recently ruled that Zwerner could press forward with her $40 million lawsuit against the school board over claims of negligence by school administrators.
The decision by the Newport News judge means that Zwerner could get much more than the workers' compensation benefits.
"We firmly believe that the Workers' Compensation Commission is the correct forum to determine this case, not the Circuit Court," the school board's legal team said in a statement when confirming that they filed a claim on Zwerner's behalf.
"The trial court was correct that the Newport News public school system cannot claim that a teacher being shot b her 6-year-old student is a hazard of the job," Zwerner's attorneys said. "The school board is hiding behind workers' compensation to avoid their responsibility to correct the problem. The Newport News School Board continues to insult not just the public, but every hard-working teacher in Newport News."
Toscano Law Group and co-counsel at Breit Biniazan Trail Lawyers say the school system did not tell Zwerner or her lawyers in advance that they were filing, and that she is not accepting the workers' compensation and will move forward with the lawsuit.
Zwerner's lawsuit trial is scheduled to start in January 2025.
Stay with News 3 for updates.
