Stoisits: Accident during sports class

Accident during sports class – no compensation?

Ombudswoman Stoisits presented the following case: A primary school child had a serious accident during his sports class. He suffered from a complicated fracture and had to wear a metal framework screwed on his leg for 13 weeks. It is not sure whether there will be long-term implications since the boy is still in the process of growth.

The parents accused the teachers and the school of a lack of crisis management. Teachers had not taken sufficient care of the child and furthermore did not support him when he started to go to school again. Above all, the question remained, who should pay for the medication and therapy. The boy did not receive any compensation and the parents had expenses as high as 17.000 euros. The health insurance carrier refunded parts of the expenses, but the local education authority and the ministry of education turned away the father. The school itself did not give any comment.

The ministry advised the parents to sue the school authorities. For ombudswoman Stoisits this is the wrong way: “It would mean that the teachers acted on purpose – and obviously, this was not the case here.” She argued that the parents should be reimbursed by a specific school aid fund.  

Ombudswoman Stoisits criticised that hardly any information had been given to the family. Only the Austrian Ombudsman Board told the family about the school aid programme that offers support up to 3.600 euros. Ombudswoman Stoisits: „Unfortunately, accidents like this can happen – but parents must be given professional support. Even if it is no one’s fault in the sense of criminal law, a tragic accident happened. Therefore, the Austrian Ombudsman Board recommends introducing a new legislation dealing with compensation in this sort of cases.”