HOUSTON (CN) - After a troubled student - the son of a former congressmen - viciously beat a teacher in the head with a rock and his fists, the principal told her "she should expect such incidents to happen because they are simply 'a part of the job,'" the teacher claims in Harris County Court.
Carrie Spitler says her boss at The Briarwood School knew about the student's problems. Spitler claims Butler referred to the teen as a "schizophrenic" who was "in need of psychiatric help." And she says Butler acknowledged that the school "is not a psychiatric facility and is not equipped to handle schizophrenic or violent children."
During the 2006-08 school years the student attacked several peers, and made numerous threats, Spitler claims. "His homeroom teacher, Ashley DeLaughter, commented that she was so afraid that she often suffered from nightmares about the student attacking her," according to the complaint.
The student's threats escalated over time; he approached Spitler and said, "fuck you," called her a "bitch," and told her he was going to "kick her ass," Spitler claims. But Butler didn't discipline the student in any way and belittled Spitler in front of other faculty when she reported the behavior, Spitler says.
The 5-foot-10-inch, 170-lb. student snapped one day at an alternate Briarwood campus and "struck Ms. Spitler about the head and neck with a large rock, and beat Ms. Spitler's face with his fists. Ms. Spitler nearly lost consciousness during the severe beating," she says.
Rather than calling the ambulance, school staff moved her out of view so a parent at the school wouldn't find out about the attack, Spitler says. Butler became agitated when Spitler said she was physically unable to drive the students back to the main campus, told her such incidents were "a part of the job," and did not offer to take her to the hospital, Spitler says.
Spitler says her mother took her to the hospital, where medical tests revealed the student hit her with such force that he caused her spine to become misshapen. She says the injury will necessitate medical care for the rest of her life.
Spitler demands $1.2 in damages for medical care, plus punitive damages for negligence, gross negligence, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
She is represented by Scott LeMond.
Follow @cam_langford
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