AUBURN, Maine — The mother of a Minot boy is suing a substitute teacher for negligence after her son was assaulted by another student in the classroom during the teacher’s absence.
Joel Clavet was a student at Lewiston Middle School in May 2011 when he was assaulted by another juvenile student named in the suit as John Doe, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in Androscoggin County Superior Court.
The complaint was filed by Clavet’s mother, Maureen, on behalf of her son.
Therese Blaisdell of Lewiston was working as a substitute teacher on the day of the assault, the complaint said. She left the classroom to talk about personal matters to another teacher in the hallway when the assault occurred, the complaint said.
She had known that “John Doe” had “behavioral issues, including, but not limited to, a proclivity for violence.”
Joel Clavet apparently suffered a facial cut that required stitches; the other student was charged with assault by police.
Maureen Clavet brought a count of negligent supervision against Blaisdell, claiming the teacher had a “duty to supervise the students in her care and to supervise her classroom,” according to the complaint.
She breached her duty by failing to supervise the classroom and leaving minors in the classroom without proper adult supervision with a child “that suffered from known behavior issues.”
Because of Blaisdell’s actions, she “enabled” the other student to assault Clavet, the complaint said.
Clavet suffered physical injury and scarring, the complaint said.
Maureen Clavet is seeking “just and appropriate” damages, including the costs of the suit and attorney’s fees.
Filing a lawsuit for teacher responsibility.
Hmmmm…..quite a concept.
This would have merit, if you could sue for bad parenting. The teacher should be able to step out of the room for a minute without having to worry about some bully attacking another student, period. She should sue the parents of the kid who launched the attack, not the teacher.
She’s looking for some easy cash,plain and simple!
1-800-CALL-JOE.
You say that now, say that was you child an the same happen to them i bet you would laugh it off an watch you child get beat up
I would like any normal parent go after the other students parent. What you are saying is absurd. Teachers are not allowed to go to the bathroom,step into the hall.What if the teacher had to take another student to the nurses office?
I stick by what i say that teacher is still in charge for the saftey of the kids weather they are in the class room or not. You expect the school to be a safe place for kids not to be sent to the hospital .
You are still wrong and the courts will prove you wrong.All she is looking for is some easy money!
So what would you do if you child ended up in a hospital nothing an just laugh it off ??
I explained it once, if you can’t understand what you are reading,I can’t explain it any further.
like i said you would just laugh it off if you kid ended up in the hospital
You are expecting someone to understand what they are reading when that person has a difficult time trying to master grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure.
When I was in school, teachers were called out of class often. Wouldn’t that be the school’s responsibility/liability? And yes, go after the other parent not the teacher.
How about holding the student/aggressor responsible for his own actions ? Or maybe his parents didn’t have the deep pockets…I want you to start predicting what everyone, anytime, may do if you look away, you are part of what is going wrong in this world.
Lawsuit lottery.
As though a substitute teacher has any money to take. ha ha ha ha.
You’ve no idea what she has. Her husband could be the principal or a ceo. Presume much? Besides, it is important to bring awareness to these sorts of issues whether there is a monetary award or not.
so now we are going to blame the husband and take his money? Gee, what if the teacher stopped at dunkin donuts on her way to school, are we going to sue the guy working the drive thru?
We all remember how any substitute teacher needed to be more hawk-eyed than the regular one, because we little monsters could be counted on to test her tolerance for foolishness. The good ones stayed in the room and kept our little noses to the grindstone, particularly when we were middle-schoolers. Those who left for any reason often returned to discover bedlam had replaced order. This one is in a tough position in this case; but if leaving for a while to discuss personal matters was in accordance with established procedure where is the school administration in this?
Sue happy. A substitute teacher hasn’t got any money. I am sure she didn’t do anything that any other teacher before her hadn’t done. It was the “John Doe” in this case and his parents that should be to blame.
Schools normally drug up students from K throught 12 if they are bullies. Did they miss one? then they put them on the streets cold turkey.. Yes drugs have been in the schools for years.
I did not know that school did drug kids ??
i think the OP means drugs for all the mental conditions kids are being diagnosed with. Ritalin is chemically identical to cocaine, look it up.
If this kid was really that dangerous that he cannot be trusted in a classroom for one minute, then he SHOULDN’T BE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. No Child Left Behind…Even If They Should Be Behind Bars.
By far the best post on the topic. The kid had no business being in the school if he was that dangerous.
Some people will use any excuse to file a law suit.
So let’s get this straight. In a previous story a child poisoned and strangled an infant and that child was charged not the parent (who was supposed to be “watching” over her child). In this case a child attacks another and instead of holding the child responsible we are holding the substitute teacher responsible? There is no consistency anywhere!
When I was young parents (and some teachers) walked softly and carried big sticks. Kids were more well behaved then. That’s just the reality.
The teacher is in charge of the room that teacher is suppose to make it safe for every child
wolly,
That’s easy to say but it’s quite obvious that you have never been a teacher or in charge of a group of out of children. Teachers cannot so much as touch students these days without getting sued. Even if the teacher was in the classroom when the event happened I doubt there is much she could have done except call the cops and wait for help to arrive. The root cause of this problem starts at home and it’s time that parents stopped making excuses and started accepting responsibility for how their kids act.
People are so sue happy today.The parents of the child who attacked the child should have to pay for the hospital bill.If we start sueing teachers or substitute teachers nobody going to want to teach our children.We don’t pay them enough as it is .
Give me a fraking break!!