Teacher Sues MOE after fall in School ( S T Jan 17 , 2010 )

[CoffeeAhSoh]

Teacher sues MOE after fall in school



Sun, Jan 17, 2010
The Straits Times

By K.C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent

A PRIMARY school teacher is taking the Ministry of Education (MOE) to court after she fractured her right ankle by jumping from a height of 3.7m to get out from her school premises.

The 38-year-old found herself locked in the school on a Saturday morning in Feb 2006, screamed for help for 30 minutes and then decided to leap to freedom.

She climbed over a ventilation gap between the first and second floors and jumped out onto a grass patch, but injured herself badly enough to need 100 days of medical leave.

As a result, she is suing the MOE, holding it indirectly liable for the school's alleged negligence and lack of duty of care.

Her case was one of more than 13,000 suits filed in the High Court in the first 11 months of last year.

The number of civil suits in the High Court has declined over the last three years, unlike in the Subordinate Courts, where it has soared over the same period.

The suits, which involve claims of over $250,000, vary from defamation and debt recovery to en bloc disputes and clashes over family wills.

Some, like the teacher's, are about negligence.

Her case will give the High Court an opportunity to explore who is liable if a worker is accidentally trapped in his own workplace and is subsequently injured.

A pre-trial hearing was held on Tuesday.

According to court documents, the teacher went to the school in Tiong Bahru on a Saturday morning to do some work in her classroom.

She was stranded when she realised the staff room had been locked with her bag and cellphone in it, leaving her unable to call for help, and all the exits were shuttered and closed.

The mother of two needed surgery after the incident and still has difficulty climbing staircases, squatting or standing for long. She also walks with a limp.

Through lawyer S. Perumal, she is seeking damages from the MOE, which oversees the school and is defended by the Attorney-General's Chambers.

The MOE is denying the claims, and argues that it was her own choice to go to school on a non-work day.

There is also a standard operating procedure for teachers to sign in, which she did not do, so no one knew she was on the premises.

The MOE also argues that she could have tried other routes, or raised the fire alarm.

Figures from the High Court show there were 13,414 cases filed up to November last year, compared to 13,637 cases in 2008 and 13,818 cases in 2007.

But in the Subordinate Courts, the figures have gone up by more than 10,000 cases over the last three years, from 32,724 in 2007, to about 38,500 in 2008 and 43,342 last year.

It is understood the increase could be a fallout of the economic downturn that began in late 2008 and left many seeking redress for deals that soured.

The first case filed in the High Court in the new year was by lawyers acting for a copper products company facing financial woes. It is seeking a court order for a scheme it is proposing on how to solve its difficulties and avoid being sued.

It is due to be heard next Monday.

 

[CoffeeAhSoh]

Teacher suing MOE - Day 3


Posted on 28 October 2010 | 1,508 views



SOURCE: The Straits Times DESPITE procedures requiring the school attendant to check that classrooms are empty and locked before shuttering the building, a teacher ended up trapped inside the Zhangde Primary School building in February 2006.

The High Court yesterday heard from the school's principal Jaswant Kaur that the attendant was required to check all the classrooms before shuttering the school, even on Saturdays.

The attendant is expected to testify tomorrow.

Teacher Sivakami Sivanantham, 39, who was locked inside the building and fractured her ankle trying to climb out of it, is suing the Ministry of Education (MOE) for negligence for "not ensuring a safe work environment".

Locked inside the school on the afternoon of Feb 11, 2006 and afraid she would be unable to get out until Monday, when the school reopened, Ms Sivakami climbed out through a ventilation gap. She fell about 4m and hurt herself.

The teacher of 15 years was warded for seven days at Singapore General Hospital. Complications necessitated seven operations and she was on medical leave for more than a year.

Testifying on her behalf, psychiatrist Ung Eng Khean said on Tuesday that being locked in had triggered a natural "fight or flight" response in Ms Sivakami, resulting in her trying to get out through the ventilation gap.

However, testifying yesterday for the MOE, Dr Todd Tomita of the Institute of Mental Health said the teacher was not suffering from any psychiatric condition at the time of the incident. Dr Tomita maintained that Ms Sivakami was fully able to appraise her situation and consider the different options available before deciding to climb out of the building."In the absence of her anxiety, she may not have climbed through the ventilation gap," he said.

Taking the witness stand next, the school's then vice-principal Chong Chin Hong said teachers were briefed that the school would be locked up at 12.30pm on Saturdays, and that they should inform the operations manager if they wished to stay later than that.

However, on cross-examination by Ms Sivakami's lawyer Kamala Dewi, he conceded that such "important information" should have been placed in the computer folder containing the school's other standard operating procedures.

He was also unable to say for sure if Ms Sivakami had attended the briefing.

When the hearing began on Monday, the court heard that she had gone to the school at 9am that Saturday, a non-working day, to prepare for the next week's classes. She left her handbag and mobile phone in the teachers' room on the second floor before entering 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 ground floor exits of the staircases were also locked. When her calls for help went unanswered, she climbed out of the ventilation gap.

The hearing continues today.

 

[Microsoft]

So...wats de outcome? . Actually zai zai no nid to ask...:p

 

[CoffeeAhSoh]

Teacher Sues MOE over fall while trying to climb out of School

Posted on 26 October 2010 | 1,108

SOURCE: The Straits Times . 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 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. 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

 

[eatshitndie]

if moe loses this case, every teacher will be asked to carry a set of emergency ladder.

 

[JohnTan]

So...wats de outcome? . Actually zai zai no nid to ask...:p

If a dumbass teacher can collect over $100k from MOE due to her own stupidity, then I think the families of the victims are in for a windfall. The dead teachers' families may get less, as dead adults are less cute and garner far less sympathy than dead kids.

SOURCE: The Straits Times 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.

Assistant Registrar Tan Sze Yao awarded her $107,649 in judgment grounds released yesterday after a four-day hearing earlier this year.

The award was mainly for future medical and transport expenses, pain and suffering, and pre-trial expenses. The biggest item on her claims bill was $1.688 million, for the alleged loss of future earnings and earning capacity.

Mr Tan awarded her a nominal $10,000 in damages for loss of future earnings, taking into account the MOE's evidence that her promotion prospects as a senior teacher were not affected.

He rejected her claim for loss of earning capacity, noting she had failed to $250,000. Her legal costs could be assessed on the Subordinate Courts' scale.

She is still teaching at the same school. and the after-effects of the operation.

http://thecourtroom.stomp.com.sg/courtroom/cases/teacher-locked-up-in-school-awarded-damages

 

[shiokalingam]

If a dumbass teacher can collect over $100k from MOE due to her own stupidity, then I think the families of the victims are in for a windfall. The dead teachers' families may get less, as dead adults are less cute and garner far less sympathy than dead kids.

Thank You John Tan for the Update .


Climbing Windows Will Get Less $$$ ??? .


"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."