Personal Injury Law

Ski Trip Teacher Chaperone Sues School for Injury

By mbrickley

A Massachusetts school teacher was recently awarded worker?s compensation benefits after she was injured while chaperoning students on a school ski trip.

Karen Sikorski, a math teacher at Peabody High School in Peabody, Mass., injured her shoulder in 2004 during a trip to Mount Ascutney in Vermont with the school?s ski club.

Sikorski was reportedly skiing when she fell. The injury later required surgery as well as physical therapy for her to recover, according to the Boston Globe.

Sikorski?s claim asked to regain sick days spent on her recovery and any medical expenses not covered by the co-payment offered through her health insurance policy, through the city.

The city of Peabody government initially rejected her claim for personal injury compensation because the teachers are not required to participate with the school ski trips and other voluntary events, according to claims.

But in mid December, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of Sikorski. Alan Pierce, who served as Sikorski?s attorney for the injury case, told the Associated Press that while teachers volunteer to chaperone events such as the ski trip, she was still performing her duties as a teacher.

“The students could not ski unless there was a chaperone going down the trail with them,” Pierce said.?She engaged in the duties of a teacher, albeit on the ski slopes. She wasn’t teaching math, but she was maintaining order, re-enforcing rules and watching out for the well-being of adolescents.”

While the case itself did not involve ?big money,? Pierce told the Boston Globe that the state Supreme Court?s ruling ?needed to establish that when teachers are performing chaperoning duties [they] do not lose the protection.?

Pierce said Sikorski may recover about 10 of the 16 sick days she used for physical therapy and a small payment if her injuries turn out to be permanent, according to the Globe.

The city of Peabody tried to argue that a 1985 Massachusetts law excluded injuries from being covered by worker?s compensation if such an injury happened while an employee was voluntarily participating in an activity.

However, the SJC ruled that participation in the ski trip was a result of Sikorski working for the city in some form, and therefore Sikorski was awarded the compensation.

Judge Judith A. Cowin wrote in an opinion regarding the case that, ?the ski club?s trips benefited the city by furthering the school?s educational mission.?

Judge Cowin also pointed out that the city encourages teachers to participate in events such as the ski trip.

Full post as published by The Injury Blog on January 14, 2010 (boomark / email).