Q: My daughter just turned 18, and she was beaten by another 18 yr old senior girl off campus. Bullied her first. RIghts?
Both girls are seniors in same High School; however, the assault occurred off campus. The other girl punched our daughter in the face multiple times, then threw her to the ground, and kicked our daughter in the face. Then stomped on her hand while stating, "now play volleyball bitch." This assault is verbally heard on video, and includes my daughter saying she is not going to fight and pleading for he girl to stop. OUR daughterror is the captain of the high school volleyball team and had multiple volleyball scholarship offers, which we are not sure will still be offered due to the and fracture occurring from her hand being stomped. WHAT rights do my husband and I have as parents of a senior in High School and possibly now having to pay for her college education now? WHAT rights does our daughter have against the other girl and/or her parents?
A:
First, if your state has a crime victims compensation act that will pay for out of pocket medical expenses. I assume the other girl is being charged.
Second, as to any civil action, the school generally isn't liable for sudden attacks unless the person had a long history of being violent --but check with a member of the Texas Trial Laweyrs Assn.
As to suing the girl, you would win but it would be pointless and expensive--she has no money, insurance doesn't cover intentional acts, so your daughter would get a piece of paper she could never collect on and lawyers wouldn't take the case because there is nothing to go after.
Suggest you develop a plan b--if schools get cold feet, a DivIII school may give her an offer on a wait-and-see basis.
Hopefully, with rehab, she will be able to get back to where she wants to be--the advantage of being physically fit is athletes (at least the young) tend to recover.
For the PTSD, I suggest she look at EMDR therapy--no drugs, tends to work relatively quickly. Google: Psychology today, emdr, therapist (insert name of your town) Texas
All the best to her.
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