State makes $1.25M deal in settlement of school suit

The state has agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle a lawsuit involving an eighth-grade science teacher at Kailua Intermediate School who accidentally drove his truck over a student on campus in 2012.

Kirsten Grimm suffered multiple pelvic fractures in the accident, and her parents sued the state Department of Education and teacher Derek Esibill on her behalf, according to the state attorney general’s office. The two sides agreed to mediation in the case, and the settlement was presented to the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee on Thursday.

According to an account of the accident provided by the state, the teacher asked the school vice principal for permission to leave campus early on March 27, 2012, to pick up items for a school project, and was told he could go. His truck was parked in a stall next to a grassy area of the campus, but instead of backing out of the stall, the teacher drove forward on the grass, according to the attorney general’s office.

The grassy area is a location where students are told to wait for the bus. Grimm was sitting on the grass with a friend, but the teacher didn’t see her, and the truck rolled over part of the student’s body, according to the account of the accident provided to lawmakers.

A spokesman for the state DOE said Esibill no longer works for the department.

State Sen. Laura Thielen questioned Supervising Deputy Attorney General Caron Inagaki about the case because she wanted to know whether the teacher — whom she described as “this idiot” — had to pay part of the damages or whether the state paid everything.

Inagaki said her understanding was the teacher did not have to pay because his actions that triggered the lawsuit were “within the scope of his employment.” A spokesman for the attorney general later clarified that under the terms of the settlement, the teacher’s auto insurance policy also paid $50,000.

“How can you say it’s within the scope of his employment to drive over the lawn in the school?” asked Thielen (D, Hawaii Kai-Waimanalo-Kailua).

Inagaki replied that the state’s legal analysis was that the teacher was in the vehicle on his way to conduct an errand for the school, which made the school legally liable.

“You guys should never have settled this case, and it sends the wrong message to every employee in this state that you can just be a stupid (expletive) idiot and drive over the lawn in a school and do stupid things like that, and we’re going to cover you,” Thielen said. “That is a horrible judgment.”

Attorney General Douglas Chin later released a written statement explaining that “Hawaii case law typically holds the employer vicariously liable for employee negligence that occurs within the scope and course of employment. The 2012 incident took place at Kailua Intermediate School on school grounds, during school hours, while the school employee was running a school-approved errand.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved House Bill 2279, which includes the settlement, with only Sen. Sam Slom (R, Diamond Head-Kahala-Hawaii Kai) voting no. The measure now goes to the Senate Ways and Means Committee for further consideration.