On 10/2/2019 9:11 AM, Monona Rossol wrote:

And this is in part why the major hit in the $60 million award in the Beacon High School case went against the school.  The Jury got it.  They understood that there actually were two victims in that courtroom, the injured student and the untrained teacher.

Yep. Most of my testimony in the Beacon case was about best practices not being met. There was some line of questioning around the school not needing to adhere to NY Science Safety Manual because they were too elite. The defense lawyer asked me, "Shouldn't the school be able to assume that when they hired a trained chemistry teacher that they were trained in safety?"  I said, "Absolutely not. I don't assume that when new PhD chemists are hired in our department. I still meet with them and discuss our expectations and do what I can do to make sure they are trained in safety." I said in court that, "Everyone is accountable to some standard."  I am not sure that I mentioned anything about OSHA - but I did speak to accountability. 

The principal admitted on the stand a few days later that she made a mistake by not making sure the teacher was trained or otherwise knowledgeable by education.

I have laid out the warnings, papers, standards and events on a timeline and, even though it is not much of a defense, it is becoming increasingly difficult to say moving forward for a teacher to say, "I didn't know".  The case in April may not have been upheld Federally, but I seem to remember when that one first posted there was something about the fact that it should not have been in the Federal system. 

Most importantly, educators should realize that they are accountable to their students and they had better start to ensure that they are using best safety practices in class.

Sammye