TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

Science Game Sparks Lawsuit

ADVERTISEMENT

By KYLE MARTIN, Hernando Today

Published: February 13, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - A game of "prey and predator" during a J.D. Floyd Elementary science class ended with a student nursing a fractured leg, a lawsuit filed Monday alleges.

A circuit civil complaint dates the incident to Feb. 8, 2006, and says the teacher "demanded" students participate in a game that was "genuinely dangerous."

The lawsuit doesn't explain how the game was played, but it claims a boy, who was 10 at the time, was knocked over and the fall fractured his leg.

Two years later, his father, Anthony Laudano, wants unspecified compensation because he says the teacher failed to understand every child's physical abilities and limitations.

Furthermore, the lawsuit claims, a physical education teacher should have been on hand to supervise the game and make sure no one was hurt. Another target of the lawsuit is the school board, which should have known that the game was in the curriculum, the lawsuit states.
Florida law provides a four-year window to file a personal injury lawsuit.

No one answered Laudano's home phone Monday or Tuesday and his lawyer, John Mathias, said through a secretary that he had no comment.

The school board's attorney, Paul Carland, said he received the complaint on Monday, but he had no "personal knowledge" of the case.

Per common practice, Carland has forwarded the lawsuit to the district's insurance company, which will assign a defense attorney.

A message left with J.D. Floyd principal Marsha Austin was not returned by press deadline Tuesday.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT