31 de julho de 2011

Victims of bullying, playground falls and punch-ups sue their schools to win $7.5m




STUDENTS who have sued their school for bullying, playground falls and punch-ups have been paid $7.5 million in compensation by the Education Department over the past three years as the number of cases has almost trebled since 2008.
At least 318 students sued the department for a range of grievances including a lack of teacher supervision that led to sport or playground injuries.
Some have been paid as much as $500,000 in court while the average payout over the past three years has been $23,620 per student, according to figures obtained exclusively by the Sunday Telegraph.
David Gregory, now 32, was awarded $469,000 by the Department of Education in 2009 after being subjected to "consistent and systematic bullying" in his six years as a student at Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School in Tamworth in the 1990s.
The NSW Supreme Court heard that the bullying had led to psychological issues such as agoraphobia, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder, which severely limited his employment opportunities.
Students who took the department to court were awarded more than peers who settled out of court, with cases averaging payouts of $103,000.
Most of the claims - 83 per cent - were not litigated, with those plaintiffs awarded payments averaging $7790 each.
Figures show that the number of claims made against the department had risen by 29 per cent in the past three years, with 113 claims made in the 11 months to May 31 compared with 88 made between July 2008 and June 2009.
Yet the amount students were awarded dropped significantly, with students being paid an average of $4330 in the past year compared with $41,740 two years ago.
NSW Parents and Citizens Association president Helen Walton said it was a concern that bullying had become so severe that families had grounds to sue. She said that with cyberbullying and mobile phone bullying on the increase, schools could also face legal action in those areas.
A spokeswoman for the department said the claims covered physical and emotional injury but could not provide details.

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