A federal judge correctly ruled against a Central High School teacher who sued St. Paul Public Schools officials after a student attacked him in the lunchroom, an appeals court panel has said.
John Ekblad accused the school district, former superintendent Valeria Silva and assistant superintendent Theresa Battle of negligence, claiming they knew the high school was unsafe and failed to protect him before the Dec. 4, 2015 attack.
The assault ended Ekblad’s career. The school district paid for his medical bills and workers’ compensation benefits but argued he had no grounds for a lawsuit.
In May 2017, U.S. District Judge David Doty ruled in the school district’s favor, finding that the state’s workers’ compensation laws prevent Ekblad from suing.
Ekblad appealed, making the case that at least one of three exceptions to that law apply.
But in a decision filed Thursday, a three-judge panel for the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision.