ESP Liability Questions

Who is responsible?

When students fight or are injured and you react, you may face the frightening question, "What if I'm sued?" Liability insurance provides for a legal defense against lawsuits brought by parents or guardians of an injured student. Liability insurance also protects employees who are sued from paying the damages that could result.

Like most kinds of insurance, liability insurance is protection you don't want to have to use. Yet it's important to know what coverage you have in case a potential problem occurs. Although hundreds of thousands of students daily enter and leave school safely, it is inevitable that accidents and other injuries will occur. When an incident occurs and parents or guardians of the injured student decide to file a lawsuit, often both the school administration and the employee are named.

In recent years there has been an explosion in the cost of liability insurance. School officials are having an increasingly difficult time obtaining adequate insurance - in some cases l paying increases of up to 800 percent for renewing the same policy. Sometimes insurance protection is not available at any price.

DSEA/NEA believes that it is the responsibility of your employer to provide liability insurance. But because this is not always available - and because the liability potential is so serious for members - NEA provides all members with liability insurance through the Educators Employment Liability (EEL) Program.

What is the EEL Program? The Educators Employment Liability (EEL) Program protects NEA members from personal financial liability for incidents arising out of their employment. The program provides insurance coverage for a variety of situations which result in injury to someone other than members, such as:

charges of educational malpractice

corporal punishment.

Your membership entitles you to liability coverage

NEA's liability coverage is an important benefit of membership, particularly now when liabiltity insurance is so hard to find. Your coverage is worldwide and in force twenty-four hours a day. You are covered, not only for your work, but also for any authorized involvement in school-sponsored extracurricular activities. In addition, NEA's policy is known as an "occurence policy. " This means your coverage is keyed to when the incident took place; for example, if you are sued for a 1984 incident, you would be covered by the coverage now even if you're just filing in 1989.

The Educators Employment Liability program is funded entirely by the Association. Each state's liability and insurance laws vary, so if you want more information on the specific provisions of the EEL policy in Delaware, please refer to the EEL brochure which is given to each member in September. Or call DSEA Membership Services (1-800-237-DSEA or 734-5834) to obtain a copy; or contact Tammy Ford, DSEA's legal services coordinator, to answer specific questions.

Some bus driver situations are not covered

There is an area which the EEL policy does not cover and that is the operation of a motor vehicle. NEA believes that here, particularly, the employer's responsibility to protect their employees is critical. In fact, the majority of school districts do provide insurance for their bus drivers because the risks of an accident involving a vehicle are so high. NEA's liability insurance protects drivers for all supervisory activities but not for incidents resulting from the drivingof the bus. Examples of what NEA's policy does cover include:

A driver is supervising a group of children entering a bus. One of the children runs into the street and is struck by a passing car.

A child on the bus suffers a severe asthma attack. The driver who administers emergency first aid is later sued by the child's parents for his/her actions.

What the policy does not provide protection for are situations involving the operation of the bus. For example:

A child jumps out in front of a moving bus as it is leaving the school and is hurt.

Remember! NEA's EEL Policy is there for you -

Protection against damages

A legal defense when you need one.

Totally dues-funded/no separate fee.

What to Do if an incident occurs: Contact your UniServ representative immediately if you:

receive a letter from an attorney regarding an incident or a service of summons for a lawsuit;

are involved in any situation where you believe you may be sued for something that happened while you were performing your job.

Do not contact an attorney to represent you before contacting DSEA. DSEA will brief you on the procedures to follow under the insurance policy. All actual determinations of coverage are made by the insurance company based on the specific facts of the incident giving rise to the claim. Like all insurance policies, the EEL provides specific definitions and criteria for coverage which must be met.

Write down a description of the incident as soon as possible. A brief description of the incident will help your attorney and help you remember particular details that fade over time.

NEA liability coverage for support personnel If any of the following situations were to happen to you during your employment you would be covered by the policy. In each case your NEA insurance would assist you in obtaining a lawyer and paying any possible financial damages.

Teacher aide/paraprofessional

Child falls from playground swing while aide is on playground duty. Teacher is not present at time of accident. Serious head injuries require longterm care. Parents file a lawsuit claiming aide improperly carried out duties.
Aide working with physical education class helps "spot" children in gymnastics exercise. Later, parents of two students accuse aide of "improper touching. "

Secretary

Two students waiting to see principal get into a fight. Member uses force to break up fight and is sued for assault by students' parents.
Secretary agrees to act as chaperone for dance at which sound equipment falls and injures student. Member is sued for improper supervision.

Custodian

Custodian does not report problems with ladder leading to school building's roof. Students climb ladder after school and ladder breaks serious injury results. Parents sue school and member.
Night custodian encounters students walking through school after hours. Ushers them off premises and is subsequently sued for "threatening" them.
Custodian is using snowblower on walks. Student jumps in path and student's arm is caught in mechanism. Member is sued for negligence.

Food Service Personnel

Students in cafeteria line get into fight and start throwing glassware. One student is cut. Members sued for improper supervision.
Cafeteria worker uses "old" canned food to prepare meal. Several students become ill. Member is sued for negligence.
Cafeteria worker is supervising student helper. Student plugs in damaged equipment and is electrocuted. Suit alleges that member was aware of faulty wiring and could have prevented accident.