THREE APPEAL COURT judges on Friday dismissed the State’s challenge of a judge’s finding of negligence in a claim brought by the mother of a schoolboy from Claxton Bay, whose finger was partially severed by a faulty toilet door at his school in 2010.
In 2016, Justice Frank Seepersad held that school administrators had a responsibility to ensure students are supervised at school facilities even before and after school hours.
"Anything short of such arrangement is an abdication of the responsibility placed on schools both under the common law and by virtue of the Education Act," he ruled.
He also ordered that the boy, Nickel Audhan, should receive $20,000 in compensation for his injury.
In an oral decision on Friday, Justices of Appeal Charmaine Pemberton, Maria Wilson and Ronnie Boodoosingh dismissed the Attorney General’s appeal and affirmed Seepersad’s compensation order.
Pemberton said the court’s decision will be put in writing to give guidance on the application of the Education Act.
The State had appealed Seepersad’s ruling, arguing there was no breach of statutory or actionable duty which gave rise to civil liability.
State counsel Natoya Moore submitted that the Education Act speaks to criminal liability, and the duty of the principal to properly supervise his/her charges did not give rise to civil liability.
In response to questions from the judges at the virtual hearing, Moore said any complaints against principals go before the Teaching Service Commission, but she was unsure of the process or whether a third party can make a complaint.
Pressed by Wilson on the AG’s position, which admitted principals had a duty to take reasonable care to ensure students' safety, Moore insisted there was no actionable duty in Audhan’s case.
“In order for civil liability to arise for breach of statutory duty, there must be an actionable breach, and we are saying there was none.
“There was no breach under civil law,” she said as she insisted that the common-law negligence principles should not be intertwined with a claim of breach of statutory duty.
In response to the appeal, attorney Renisa Ramlogan, who appeared for Audhan along with Rennie Gosine, said the duty imposed on school administrators was a non-delegable duty to ensure the safety of children in their care.
This was also Seepersad’s finding in his decision.
In his compensation order, the money was to be deposited in an interest-bearing account in the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC), which Audhan would only be able to access when he turns 18.
The incident occurred around 8 am on February 2, 2010, at the Macaulay Government Primary School. Audhan, who was then five years old, was trying to push open the door to the toilet when it swung back, squeezing his little finger between the door and a metal door frame. A small portion of his finger was completely severed.
In his judgment, Seepersad rejected the evidence of the school's principal, who claimed the school should not be held to be negligent, as it warned students regularly of the is
