CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Legal Newsline) – A Wyoming school district isn’t liable for the brain injury suffered by a student when he allegedly fell and struck his head on PVC pipe an elementary school had placed across a walkway to divert water.
The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Dec. 6 for the Sweetwater County School District #1 in a lawsuit brought over the injuries of Gabriel Arturo Miller, who was only seven years old when the incident occurred.
He was returning from recess on Jan. 10, 2017, when he slipped on ice while running and hit the side of his head on a pipe. But the trial court and now the Supreme Court rejected his mother’s claims that the district should be blamed.
The school district argued it was entitled to immunity under the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act and even if the placement of the pipes was determined to be so negligent that immunity was voided, there was no proof the pipes caused Miller’s injury.
“The school district met its prima facie burden on summary judgment,” Justice Michael Davis wrote. “There were no witnesses to Gabriel’s fall, and as Gabriel’s counsel concedes, Gabriel did not testify or tell anyone that he tripped over the pipes or that he was trying to navigate the pipes when he fell.
“The record was simply devoid of evidence that the placement of the pipes contributed to Gabriel’s fall and injuries.”
Miller was holding his ear after the fall, and a playground monitor took him to see the school nurse after he told her he fell on his ear.
The nurse declared him OK, but subsequent vomiting and headaches led to a trip to the emergency room that revealed a brain bleed. Surgery was not required, and he was discharged for rehabilitation.
In his testimony, he could not identify which pipe he fell on.