A Kendall County jury last Thursday found School District 308 liable for the 2008 death of a student, awarding the student's family $2.5 million.
Court documents say Jeffery Stewart, a student at Oswego High School, collapsed and died on Feb. 13, 2008, due to an asthma attack after his teacher refused to let him go to the nurse's office.
The student's mother, Mary Stewart, filed a lawsuit against the school district and the teacher, Stacy Harper, in November of 2008.
Messages to the school district seeking a comment on the jury's decision were unreturned as of press time. According to the school district website, Harper joined the OHS faculty in 2002 and has "taught English I, II and III, Reading Dynamics I and II, and College Composition."
According to the complaint filed in 2008, Jeffery Stewart was in Harper's classroom "and was not feeling well and, in an effort to seek medical attention interrupted class to ask (Harper) permission to leave class and go see the school nurse."
The complaint states that Harper "refused the request of (Stewart), who was in obvious distress, and denied permission to him to see the school nurse until class was over."
The lawsuit states that it was the duty of the school district and Harper "to refrain from careless and negligent conduct which endangers the safety of the student." It states that Stewart was "in need of medical attention for treatment of his asthma condition which had flared up while he was in (Harper's) class."
The document states that, "after not being allowed to see the school nurse by his teacher, (Stewart) passed out in class and died a short time later from lack of appropriate medical attention to a common ailment that could have and should have been easily treatable by medical personnel in a timely fashion which would have prevented his death."
The lawsuit alleges that the district "carelessly and negligently failed" to supervise Harper, train him to provide or allow for medical treatment upon request, instruct Harper in "proper school policies and procedures for allowing medical attention to students in need of medical care."
It also charges that the school district "carelessly and negligently failed to properly and adequately hire competent and/or qualified" employees and that they failed to properly and adequately supervise the meidcal attention to Stewart and prevented Stewart from obtaining the proper medical care and treatment upon request.
It also stated that the district "permitted and allowed (Stewart)... to die in class for lack of proper medical treatment despite the request for same."
Also, the lawsuit alleges "willful and wanton conduct" that led to Stewart's death.
The lawsuit sought damages in excess of $50,000 and funeral expenses.
According to a motion filed in court May 20 by school district attorney Jamie S. Lane, officials say the family did not "present any evidence that the (school district and teacher) acted willfully and wantonly." Also, Lane argued that even if the family produced evidence that the district and teacher acted as such, they "did not show that this alleged conduct was the proximate cause of her decedent's (Stewart) injuries."
"The evidence presented shows that (Stewart's) extraordinary care and precaution in obtaining medical attention for (Stewart) and did everything within their power to esnure his continued safety," Lane wrote.
Lane argued that, in Illinois, school districts, schools and their employees "'are immune from tort liability for personal injuries sustained by students during school activities' absent a showing of willful or wanton misconduct."
Lane states in his motion that it was "insufficient to show that (the school district and teacher)'s actions amounted to conduct that was negligence or 'mere inadvertence, incompetence, unskillfulness, or a failure to take precautions.'"
Lane wrote that the evidence "overwhelmingly shows that (Harper) acted immediately to address Stewart's medical needs."
"The evidence and testimony show that Mr. Stewart stood up from his desk and then collapsed immediately thereafter," Lane wrote. "After which, Harper rushed to attend to Mr. Stewart and sent students to retrieve the school nurse, Sandra Banbury. While waiting for professional medical attention Harper, who is not a medically trained professional, turned Mr. Stewart on his side to prevent the possibility of choking and attended to Mr. Stewart until Nurse Banbury arrived. Upon her arrival, Nurse Banbury quickly administered CPR, instructed Mr. Harper to call 911. Mr. Harper called another nurse and instructed her to call 911, and she did. The second nurse also went into the classroom and assisted with CPR."
Lane also argued that, although Stewart's family argued that Harper should have dialed 911 immediately, "as a public employee who was in a position to exercise discretion in the classroom, Mr. Harper cannot be found liable for injuries resulting from the use of that discretion, even in the event where it (is) abused (which is not in this case)."
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