[greenmountain]

My brother was hit by some sort of object in school today. We don't where (tutorial or the lunch room) or exactly what it was, but we do kids were throwing things around and had little supervision in both places. His eye was seriously injured. We don't think there will be any permanent damage, but we won't know for a few weeks. However, the medical bills will probably be thousands of dollars. (None of us have health insurance and it's not like this is a small sum for my parents to pay.) And due to the injury, he is not allowed to do anything for a week and can't attend P.E. for two weeks because if his blood pressure rises, it could cause serious permanent damage to his eye.

At first, we didn't want to do anything. But the way the school has handled it has been appalling. And we also realize it was their responsibility to supervise the kids (It was at a high school. He is in 9th grade.) in a manner where they are throwing objects around that injure eyes. My parents did sign some sort of waiver in the beginning of school year, but we're not sure exactly what it said. The school keeps calling, obviously concerned we're going to sue them. It never really crossed my parents' minds until the school started doing things like calling them up, trying to incriminate and blame my brother for the incident and accusing him of lying and asking to talk to him while he was still in the hospital. (He mostly just told them he couldn't remember much.) Now, they're considering at least knowing their rights in the situation, possibly suing or threatening to sue to get the school to pay the medical bills. Is this reasonable? What sort of rights do they have?

[excon]

What sort of rights do they have?

Hello green:

THEY?? They have to right to PAY you for THEIR negligence. Tell your parents to see a lawyer - RIGHT NOW. They can hire one on a contingency basis. That means it won't cost them a penny unless they win.

Next, tell your parents and your brother NOT to talk to the school about this! Not at all!

Next, good for you for being so smart to seek advice here.

excon

[ScottGem]

I wouldn't jump in to a lawyer quite yet. From what I gather, you just want your out of pocket expenses covered. If that's the case, then have your parents tell the school that; since this happened on school property under school supervision they expect to school to cover all medical expenses related to the injury. If they agree make sure they get it in writing.

If they refuse, then tell them you will have to take them to court. That's when you hire an attorney. As excon said, the attorney will sue for enough to cover your medical expenses and his legal costs, so it shouldn't cost you anything out of pocket.

[s_cianci]

I think they have a good chance at suing the school to get their medical bills paid. They should speak with a personal injury attorney.