NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Newport News Public Schools has filed a workers' compensation claim for the former Richneck Elementary teacher shot by her first-grade student during class one year ago, an attorney for the school system told 13News Now.
The filing comes after a Newport News judge allowed a $40 million lawsuit filed by the teacher, Abby Zwerner, to move forward in November, denying the school system's argument that her injuries were covered under workers' compensation.
Zwerner has previously said she did not want workers comp benefits.
In a statement provided to 13News Now on Friday, Anne Lahren, an attorney at the law firm Pender & Coward that is representing the school division, stated there is legal authority allowing an employer to file a benefits claim on behalf of an employee with the Workers’ Compensation Commission.
"It has been one year tomorrow since Abigail Zwerner was shot in her classroom by a six-year-old student," Lahren wrote in the statement. "She has recently given interviews expressing worry about medical expenses arising from her injuries, all of which would be covered for her lifetime by workers’ compensation benefits."
Lahren added that because of a two-year statute of limitations for benefits, "we do not want to see these significant benefits jeopardized by letting the deadline for filing lapse," and "we firmly believe that the Workers’ Compensation Commission is the correct forum to determine this case, not the Circuit Court."
Her statement said they requested a hearing before the Workers’ Compensation Commission. Lahren said their filed requested that Zwerner "be awarded full benefits, including lifetime medical benefits, which she can receive immediately following such award, and maximum wages allowed under the Workers' Compensation Act.”
Zwerner's legal team, attorneys Diane Toscano, Jeffrey Breit, and Kevin Biniazan, criticized the move as forcing "school teachers to accept violence as a normal requirement for teaching our young children."
Their statement continues: "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. The trial court was correct that the Newport News public school system cannot claim that a teacher being shot by her 6-year-old student is a hazard of the job. 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."
Zwerner was critically injured while teaching on Jan. 6, 2023, when the boy fired a single shot at her, striking her hand and chest, breaking bones and puncturing a lung. She spent weeks in the hospital and had five surgeries.
In her lawsuit, Zwener said administrators ignored vital warnings of the boy having a gun the day of the shooting. Because she suffered permanent bodily injuries, physical pain, mental anguish and lost earnings, Zwerner is seeking compensatory damages.
In response, while agreeing that a teacher shouldn't expect to get shot by a student, Newport News Public Schools argued that Zwerner suffered a workplace injury and should be covered under workers' compensation.
In the November ruling, Newport News Circuit Court Judge Matthew Hoffman disagreed with the school board, concluding that Zwerner's injuries “did not arise out of her employment” and therefore did not “fall within the exclusive provisions of workers’ compensation coverage.”
Lahren had criticized Hoffman's decision, saying the school system's legal team believed an appellate court would reverse the decision.
A tentative trial date for Zwerner's lawsuit was scheduled for January 2025.