NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Former Richneck Elementary School teacher Abby Zwerner is set to appear in court this week for a hearing for her lawsuit against Newport News Public Schools.
She was set to appear in court on Monday, but the hearing was continued.
This comes more than a year after she was shot by one of her students.
In November, a Newport News Circuit Court judge ruled that Zwerner's injuries didn't fall underneath the provision of workers' compensation, meaning that she could move forward with her $40 million lawsuit.
But that did not stop the school division from making a move of its own. Nearly a year after the shooting, the school system filed a worker's compensation claim for the former Richneck teacher.
An attorney for the school division says there is legal authority for an employer to file a claim on behalf of an employee.
Zwerner's attorneys criticized the move saying it forces quote school teachers to accept violence as a normal requirement for teaching young children.
A trial for the lawsuit is scheduled for 2025.