Vaile v London Borough of Havering (2010) High
Court.
A recent case examines where the responsibilities of both
employer and employee fall when dealing with challenging pupils in
a special school.
Introduction
The claimant was 49 years old at the time of the accident, and
had had over 25 years of experience of teaching children with
difficulties. Her work had included duties at a Young
Offenders' Institution, but the school where the accident took
place, Dycorts, catered for pupils with severe learning
difficulties, including some children on the autistic spectrum. The
claimant had been teaching there for 14 years at the time of her
accident.
The accident involved an assault by a pupil in the school,
referred to throughout as "X". X exhibited some features
of the autistic spectrum, and had the benefit of a Statement of
Special Educational Needs. Until the summer of 2003, X had
displayed no behaviour out of the ordinary for pupils at that
school.
