FAYETTEVILLE — The parent of a then 6-year-old girl is suing the Fayette County Board of Education for permanent injuries the child sustained while in her classroom at Gatewood Elementary School.
P.B. was in her classroom on Nov. 4, 2016, when her teacher left the classroom unattended to make copies elsewhere, according to a complaint filed in Fayette Circuit Court.
E.B. claims while the teacher was absent, another student attacked P.B. and flipped her out of her chair, which caused her to violently strike her head on the floor of the room.
P.B. suffered a serious head injury and was taken to MedExpress and then sent to the emergency department of Summersville Regional Medical Center, according to the suit.
E.B. claims her daughter was diagnosed with a concussion after she had a CT scan due to nausea, dizziness and severe headaches.
Two months after the initial injury, P.B. began having eye pain and seizure-like symptoms and she continued to experience setbacks.
E.B. claims she was taken to CAMC Women's and Children's Hospital in Charleston on Jan. 20, 2017, and was then transferred via ambulance to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown where she was given morphine and sedated.
P.B. was evaluated by a pediatric neurologist and diagnosed with central temporal epilepsy and she was prescribed Klonopin by her doctor.
P.B. was referred to Cincinnati Children's Hospital in March 2017, where she continues to seek treatment for her injuries, according to the suit.
E.B. claims she attempted to resolve the matter informally but was unsuccessful so she filed the lawsuit. She claims the board of education owes a duty to P.B. and breached that duty by allowing P.B. to become injured while at school.
E.B. is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. She is represented by Lia DiTrapano Fairless of DiTrapano Law Firm; and Lonnie C. Simmons and Robert M. Bastress III of DiTrapano, Barrett, DiPiero, McGinley & Simmons.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Paul M. Blake Jr.
Fayette Circuit Court case number: 18-C-181