Lawsuit idiocy
Did we need more proof that the entire world has gone insane? We do? OK: Bad haircut costs Oregon school district $10,000.
Yep, you guessed it: they cut a kid’s hair and his mother sued. The school settled because of “the inordinate cost of defending” and now the mother worries that the incident will cause animosity.
Bad haircut costs Oregon school district $10,000
The Associated Press / Seattle Times 17 March 05WILSONVILLE, Ore. — Sally Miller says she might have been grateful if a school employee had given her son a good haircut. Miller, however, threatened to sue when her son returned home with “next to nothing” on his head.
The West Linn-Wilsonville School District recently agreed to pay Miller $10,000 because the employee cut the 8-year-old boy’s hair without permission.
The boy, who is in the district’s special education program at Cederoak Park Primary School, got the haircut Oct. 11. The case was settled last month, but its documents were not released until The Oregonian filed a public records request.
“First I was shocked,” Miller told the newspaper. “Then I was embarrassed that I didn’t have the money to get him a haircut. And then I was mad…I thought, ‘What nerve. How invasive.’ “
The single mother said she tried to keep her son’s hair looking neat.
“There was one stinking day, and I’m not lying, that I didn’t brush his hair,” Miller said.
Superintendent Roger Woehl said Wednesday the employee was wrong to play barber.
“If someone needs a haircut, we’d be more than happy to go into our wallets to give them 20 bucks.”
The district’s insurance company paid the $10,000 settlement. Peter Mersereau, the district’s attorney, said the district does not admit any liability for the hairdo.
“We settled this case primarily because of the inordinate cost of defending,” he said.
Miller said the episode has strained her relationship with her son’s teacher and instructional assistant. She said her son has received an excellent education at the school and hopes it continues.
“There’s still a lot of animosity,” Miller said. “I don’t want any more hurt feelings.”
Did you notice? She would have been grateful if the haircut had been good. But they cut the kid’s hair too short for her liking, so she sued.
If you watch the FOX animated series, King of the Hill,, you know the character Bill Dauterive’s motto: “It will grow back.” Bill’s a fictional Army barber. Unfortunately the lady in Oregon who sued for her son’s haircut is real. Let’s see: ten grand is a teacher’s assistant, or janitor, or safety guard for four months. It’s ten computers. It’s probably all the periodicals the school library receives in five years.