Snake-handling School Official and School Board Are Immune From Tort Liability for Brandishing Serpent in Office (Kentucky)

I would probably react the same way the teacher did, due to my fear of any reptile if it is brought close to me. If the assistant principal did not walk into the classroom with it or create fear in the students, then maybe the teacher was over reacting.

In mid-December, the Court of Appeals of Kentucky affirmed a state trial court’s summary judgment in favor of a high school assistant principal and a county board of education in a civil action filed by a high school teacher/administrator (and her husband) that alleged intentional and malicious injury when an assistant principal entered the teacher’s office carrying a large snake. The teacher alleged that when she saw the snake, she jumped up out of her chair, started screaming, and ran into the concrete wall that was behind her chair. The teacher indicated the snake had its head up and its tongue out as if it was going to strike. She also alleged that she suffered injuries to her knees and heart, as well as post-traumatic stress syndrome. According to the teacher, the assistant principal just stood there and laughed and said that the teacher must be “a sissy” because she was afraid of “my friend.” The assistant principal countered that she took the snake to the school’s administrative offices because a student’s mother had brought it to school for a science class. The assistant principal added that she did not enter the teacher’s office, but remained in the doorway, and that the teacher had never communicated any fear of snakes. Agreeing with the trial court that the tort action was barred by the exclusive remedy provisions of the state’s workers’ compensation law, the appellate court held that the actions of the defendant principal did not amount to “willful and unprovoked physically aggression.” The court continued that there was no evidence that the assistant principal threatened to touch or had actually touched the teacher with the snake, or that she pushed or thrust the snake toward the teacher. Absent any such evidence of aggression or hostility, the assistant principal’s actions fell within the scope of her employment. Both the school district and the assistant principal enjoyed the immunity afforded by the state’s workers’ compensation law.