DUBLIN — The state appeals court docket has dominated that the household of the previous Dublin faculty board trustee Catherine Kuo can’t sue the district for her demise.
The First District Court docket of Attraction on March 12 dominated that as a result of Kuo was working in a volunteer capability that day she is barely “entitled to workers’ compensation benefits” for “any injury sustained.”
Catherine Kuo’s widower, William Kuo, filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court docket in 2022 in opposition to the Dublin Unified Faculty District, alleging negligence after Kuo was killed in an accident in 2021 the place she was struck from behind whereas distributing meals at Fallon Center Faculty. She was pinned between two automobiles and later died at a hospital.
Catherine Kuo, who served on the board from 2019 till her demise, was remembered by her household as a “real superhero” and a “super mom,” the household beforehand wrote in a press release. She was born in Redwood Metropolis from a household of Korean immigrants, grew up in Saratoga and lived in Dublin for 20 years. She additionally survived a bout with most cancers earlier than she was killed. She was 48.
Her husband stepped as much as fill serve the rest of her time period on the college board via November 2022.
The college district’s attorneys in June 2023 filed a movement for abstract judgement, arguing the county court docket “lacks jurisdiction over the claims.”
The legal professional for the motive force who hit Kuo argued that her demise was “either wholly, or in part, directly and proximately caused by the conduct of persons or entities” aside from the motive force. The legal professional argued additional that the plaintiffs “assumed all risks and hazards incident to the conduct alleged in the charging allegations.”
Nick Casper, the legal professional for the Kuo household, in an interview mentioned that “it was never argued that Catherine did anything wrong. There is video of the incident that shows Catherine was doing exactly what she was supposed to do.”
Casper referred to as the appeals court docket determination “an unfortunate circumstance.” He mentioned it leaves the household “without a remedy” to the demise of their cherished one, and that outdoors of the scope of staff’ compensation, they don’t have any means to recoup the “loss of the relationship, and love and support and all of those non-economic items, as well as the financial support of the deceased family member.”
“While we respect the legal process, we believe this ruling reflects an unfortunate gap in the law that essentially allows a school district to cover volunteers with workers compensation without having to essentially inform those workers that they do have workers compensation,” Casper mentioned.
Attorneys for the college district didn’t instantly return a request for remark as of Wednesday afternoon.
Casper mentioned that the Kuo household is “still evaluating their legal options.”
