Is a punch received by a teacher in a secondary school a work accident, even if she is a “collateral victim”? Yes, recently ruled the Administrative Labor Tribunal, which requires the Marie-Victorin school service center (CSSMV) to pay benefits to an employee.
The event took place in the fall of 2020. A physical education teacher from Jacques-Rousseau high school in Longueuil noticed that two students were starting to “be obstinate” during a lesson.
“I found myself stuck between the two despite myself, during their scramble. I received a blow in the face from one of the young people, at the level of the lower angle of the mandible”, testified the teacher. She “sees stars, feels stunned”.
The CNESST “charges the employer the cost of benefits related to this accident”.
However, the CSSMV challenged this decision before the Administrative Labor Tribunal, arguing that it was an “unusual and improbable” event and that it was not part of the risks of working in a school. He attributes the accident to “a third party” and considers that it is “unfair” that he has to pay.
The CSSMV representative explained to the court that there are “one to two scuffles between students ending in injury each week”, the majority outside of school.
The student who punched the teacher while trying to hit her classmate, it was also argued, represented a “low risk”.
“The student is not known to be violent. On the other hand, he has various social difficulties leading to suspensions, ”we read in the court document, where it is also added that he is ” stronger and taller than Madame “.
The school service center also tried to argue that the “risk of aggression is greater in specialized schools as well as in specialized classes integrated into regular schools”.
An argument refuted by the judge, who considers it “not convincing”.
Variable risk
“It is obvious that the risk of suffering an accident varies according to the students with whom the teacher interacts”, writes the judge of the Administrative Labor Tribunal Guillaume Saindon.
In this case, the teacher is “a collateral victim” of an altercation between two students, continues Judge Saindon.
“These circumstances, although infrequent, are part of the risks of the employer’s activities,” reads the judgment.
The fact that the school service center explained “in detail” the various occupational injuries “involving assaults on staff” shows that it is not “abnormal when it occurs” at the CSSMV, adds the judge.
“Also, it is clear that the majority of these claims accepted by the [CNESST] occurred in specialized schools or with identified students for whom specialized support services have been put in place”, he specifies in his judgment rendered on June 16.
It therefore confirms the decision of the CNESST, which obliges the service center to pay the full cost of the benefits related to this work accident.
Specific cases in schools in recent years have highlighted the violence to which staff – and students – are exposed.
Last spring, the CNESST ordered the cessation of “educational services” in an elementary school in Sainte-Marie, Beauce, due to violent behavior by students who endangered the staff.
In a recent survey conducted by the Federation of Public Service Employees (FEESP-CSN), one-third of school support staff said they had suffered physical violence.