Wake schools will pay $625,000 to high school student injured in gym class
The Wake County school system will pay $625,000 to a high school student who suffered permanent vision loss due to an injury suffered in gym class.
David A. Miller III was a 15-year-old freshman at Green Hope High School in Cary on May 31, 2019 when a ball kicked into the bleachers struck him in the face and shattered his glasses, sending fragments into his right eye. His family charged in a lawsuit that the injury was the result of negligent lack of supervision of the class.
The lawsuit was settled in July and announced Tuesday by the Wake County school board. The district didn’t admit to any liability in the agreement.
“There were no systemwide changes in district policy as a result of the unfortunate accident at Green Hope High School,” Tim Simmons, a Wake school spokesman, said in an email Wednesday. “Current practices were reviewed for improvement, which included messages about the importance of structure and supervision during Healthful Living class time.
“We wish David and his family the best in his continued recovery.”
According to the lawsuit, the accident occurred during the final period on the last day of classes for the school year. High schools typically switch in June to giving final exams.
The lawsuit says three different gym classes were allowed to use the gymnasium at the same time, filling the space with more than 90 students. The teachers allowed students to have “free play” time, with the teens either playing on the gym floor or sitting in the bleachers.
‘Recipe for disaster’
The teachers denied it, but students gave depositions that the educators were on their laptops instead of supervising the activities, according to Jason Tuttle, a Raleigh attorney representing Miller.
“It was just a recipe for disaster,” Tuttle said in an interview Wednesday.
The complaint said Miller was resting in the bleachers, after having played soccer, when he was struck by a ball kicked by another student.
“There’s nothing wrong with free play,” Tuttle said. “But you have to have structure with it.”
Miller was taken to a hospital, where the lawsuit says he was diagnosed with a ruptured globe of the right eye and a laceration of the right eye.
Miller has had multiple surgeries and corrective procedures can restore much of the vision, Tuttle said. But the injury left Miller with loss of depth perception, ending the lacrosse goalie’s future in the sport, according to Tuttle.
Following the accident, Tuttle said Miller transferred out of Green Hope to another high school in Wake.
Family gets $710,000 in settlements
The family went on to file a lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court in March 2020 against the student who kicked the ball, the teachers and the school system. Tuttle said that mediation resulted in an $85,000 settlement with the student.
According to the settlement agreement, the school district’s insurance carrier agreed to pay the $625,000 “to avoid the cost, disruption, and uncertainty of further litigation, including further appeals.”
Miller’s family will get a combined $710,000 from the two settlements. Tuttle said Miller’s family wants Wake to make sure that gym classes are properly supervised moving forward.
“The amount we were able to achieve at settlement accomplished all the goals we wanted to accomplish,” Tuttle said. “It provided an economic base for David to cover any future medical costs. It also brought attention to the school system as to what happened that day.”
