The parents of a Wood River High School student have filed a lawsuit against the Blaine County School District alleging negligence in a 2008 weightlifting accident that injured their son.
Ketchum residents Gregory and Karen Levin filed the lawsuit Feb. 2 in Blaine County 5th District Court on behalf of their son, now a junior at the high school. They are seeking unspecified monetary and punitive damages. Also named as defendants are Wood River High School and members of the current school board.
School officials had not yet been served with the lawsuit as of Tuesday but District Business Manager Mike Chatterton said authorities were aware of the litigation and had referred the matter to the district insurance carrier.
"It's something that the district is dealing with, but we really have no comment at this time," Chatterton said.
High School Principal John Blackman said he was aware of the lawsuit but declined to comment.
The Levins are represented by Bradley J. Dixon from the Boise office of the national attorney firm Stoel Rives.
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The Levins allege in the lawsuit that their son received "significant facial injuries" from a weightlifting accident at the high school on Feb. 7, 2008. They claim that their son, then a freshman, was attending a physical education weightlifting class when the incident occurred. The suit alleges that school authorities allowed him to participate in an "unreasonably dangerous activity without providing for proper safety equipment, safety training, supervision oversight or safety procedures."
"While utilizing a free weight bench press, lacking any safety restraint or device and supplied with only one spotter, a child, the bench press bar fell on [their son's] face," the Levins claim in the lawsuit.
They further claim that their son "sustained fractures to eight teeth [and] fractured the palatal bone, and one front tooth was completely knocked out with a part of the palatal bond still attached."
The Levins claim that in addition to immediate medical care from the accident, their son requires "continuing medical treatment for the proper reconstruction and treatment of facial injuries as he matures into an adult."
The Levins are asking that the case by heard by a jury.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
