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City Gets Smacked With Dodgeball Lawsuit
By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 17, 2009
Modified Nov 17, 2009
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 17, 2009
Modified Nov 17, 2009
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Take 100 middle school students, dozens of soccer balls, and one confined space and what do you get? A lawsuit! The staff at Intermediate School 219 in the Bronx used that dangerous recipe to pass by a rainy day last year. One dodgeball expert told the Daily News, "The force of those balls going across the gymnasium, especially thrown by middle school students, could be quite strong."
Surely enough, 12-year-old Shane Reese was hit in the face. He had been sitting out the game on the bleachers because he just had some teeth repaired after a car crash — but when he was stuck in the face by the soccer ball his new bridgework broke.
Now the city is offering him $20,000 to head off a lawsuit — a judge will decide if that's a fair settlement. Meanwhile, an Education Department spokesman told the paper that dodgeball has been discouraged in schools since 2006, but there is no formal ban.
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dodgeball
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Shane Reese
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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