Locked-out teacher awarded damages

[Kratos]

Locked-out teacher awarded damages
She'll get 70% of $107,649 after admitting she contributed to negligence over injury

Published on Jun 5, 2012

Ms Sivakami Sivanantham (above), 41, sued the MOE after fracturing her right ankle in a fall from a ventilation opening 4m above the ground when she tried to escape from a locked school building in February 2006. -- TNP FILE PHOTOS

By K.C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent

A teacher who fell from the second floor of a school building after she tried to get out of the locked premises was awarded $107,649 in damages.

But because she had admitted to contributing to the negligence that led to the injury, she will receive 70 per cent of the amount.

Ms Sivakami Sivanantham, 41, had sued the Ministry of Education (MOE) over a right ankle fracture that she claimed had affected her subsequent work and promotion prospects, as well as caused pain and suffering that required future medical treatment.

She had sought about $2.1 million in damages, while the Attorney-General, defending the ministry, was prepared to offer $95,474.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.
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[Kratos]

LOCKED inside the school building one Saturday afternoon, teacher Sivakami Sivanantham panicked and hurt herself while trying to get out. Now she is suing the Ministry of Education (MOE) for damages.

Ms Sivakami climbed through a ventilation opening to eventually find herself hanging by her hands close to 4m above the ground in the rear of the building. She then let go, falling to the ground and fracturing her ankle.

The 39-year-old teacher was hospitalised at the Singapore General Hospital for a week but was in and out of the hospital for about seven operations. All told, she was on medical leave for more than a year.

In her suit, Ms Sivakami is claiming that the ministry had been negligent in not ensuring that she had a safe working environment.

Because she was locked within the premises, she also contends through her lawyer, Mr Perumal Athitham, that the MOE caused her wrongful or false imprisonment.

Yesterday, on the first day of the hearing, Ms Sivakami, who appeared frail, gave Justice Belinda Ang of the High Court a detailed account of what led to the incident.

The court heard how she had returned to Zhangde Primary School at 9am on Saturday, Feb 11, four years ago to prepare for the following week’s classes.

She left her handbag and mobile phone in the teachers’ room on the second floor before going into a classroom on the same floor to work.

At about 1pm, she emerged from the classroom to find herself locked out of the staff room. The roller shutters to the staff room and the ground floor exits of the staircases were all locked, so she was unable to leave the building.

“I went to the second floor corridor to shout for help but there was no response,” she told the court.

In a “state of frenzy”, she climbed out through an opening by a staircase and fell. A staff member heard her cries and called for an ambulance.

Yesterday, in his opening statement, State Counsel Peter Koy from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, representing the MOE, argued that Ms Sivakami, who is still with the school, was responsible for her own injuries. These were caused by her “own unreasonable, rash and dangerous act”, he said.

Mr Koy also told the court about a briefing which all teachers had to attend in December 2005.

In the briefing, they were told that the school would be locked at 12.30pm on Saturdays and those who wanted to stay beyond that had to inform the school’s operations manager, the State Counsel said.

Teachers also had to sign in and sign out in an attendance book.

Ms Sivakami did not do so. When cross-examined by Mr Koy, she said she was unaware of these rules.

She was also unable to remember if she had attended the briefing during which the rules were discussed.

However, the State Counsel said there was no evidence to show that she did not attend the briefing because she was working that day.

To show that Ms Sivakami acted in a rash and dangerous manner, Mr Koy asked her why she did not use the rear entrance to the staff room, which had a fingerprint access system, to get to a phone and call for help.

“I did not think of it,” she answered.

Ms Sivakami said she tried to lift several of the shutters but they did not budge.

It was only then that she decided to squeeze her way through the ventilation opening and jump out.

The hearing continues today.

 

[Kratos]

Teacher wins appeal for higher compensation over fall in school
By Kimberly Spykerman | Posted: 03 October 2012 2007 hrs

SINGAPORE : A primary school teacher has won her appeal for higher claims in damages from the Education Ministry over a fall in school in 2006.

In a closed-door hearing on Wednesday, the High Court awarded Madam Sivakami Sivanantham S$250,000 in damages.

The amount is about S$150,000 more than what the court awarded her in June this year.

However, she will collect S$175,000, which is 70 per cent of the amount, as she had admitted that she was partly responsible for her fall.

Her lawyers had appealed three months ago for a higher amount on the basis that she had undergone several operations for her injury and for the loss of promotion prospects.

Madam Sivakami, 41, fractured her right ankle after she fell four metres from a ventilation opening, while trying to escape from a locked building at Zhangde Primary School in 2006.

She had panicked when she found herself locked in and tried to get out by climbing through the ventilation opening.

She was then left hanging by her hands close to four metres above the ground.

When she eventually let go, she fell and fractured her ankle.

Following the incident, she was hospitalised for a week at Singapore General Hospital and was on medical leave for more than a year.

During a five-day hearing in October 2010, the High Court heard that Madam Sivakami still suffers from psychological distress and could remain vulnerable to a relapse if faced with another crisis.

She claimed in her testimony that as a result of the fall, she has not been able to walk normally, play games with her two children or carry them.

- CNA/ms

 

[Space Invaders]

Teacher wins more damages

By Royston Sim
The Straits Times
Saturday, Oct 06, 2012

SINGAPORE - A primary school teacher has won an appeal for higher damages against the Ministry of Education (MOE) over a fall she sustained in 2006.

On Wednesday, the High Court awarded Ms Sivakami Sivanantham $250,000 in damages, said her lawyer Athithan Perumal.

The amount is more than double the $107,649 that she was awarded in June this year.

Ms Sivakami, 41, will collect 70 per cent of the sum, or $175,000, as she had admitted to being partly responsible for the fall.

In June, her lawyers had appealed for a higher amount on the basis that she had undergone seven operations, and for the loss of future earnings and promotion prospects.

Ms Sivakami found herself locked inside Zhangde Primary School on a Saturday in February 2006 and tried to get out via a ventilation opening.

She fell nearly 4m and fractured her ankle.

She was warded at the Singapore General Hospital for a week, and subsequently was on medical leave for more than a year.

Her lawyers had alleged that the MOE was negligent as it did not ensure that the school provide a safe working environment.