The $41,700,000 Tick

by Guest Blogger Nicola Losik
Fifteen year old Cara Munn had no idea that her life was about to change forever when she went to China on a school-supervised trip in the summer of 2007. While overseas, Munn was bitten by a tick and later diagnosed with tick-borne encephalitis. Her private school, Hotchkiss School of Lakeville, Connecticut, did not enforce necessary safety methods.  They let their students walk through a wooded area in China known to be infested with ticks carrying encephalitis as well as other insect-transmitted diseases. Munn now has significant brain damage and is unable to speak. Her life is forever changed.
The Bridgeport Federal Jury ruled in favor of Munn awarding $41.7 million in response to a personal injury lawsuit Munn’s family brought against Hotchkiss School. Hotchkiss School is planning to appeal, as attorneys represent tick-borne encephalitis is a rare disease and the school should not be responsible for warning students or requiring protective measures.
“We care deeply about all our students,” the school said in a statement. “We make every effort to protect them . . .  We put great care and thought into planning and administering off-campus programs and we extend the same care to students on these trips as to students on campus.”
Yet others feel differently. “Hotchkiss failed to take basic safety precautions to protect the minor children in its care,” Munn’s attorney Antonio Ponvert III said.  “I hope that this case will help alert all schools who sponsor overseas trips for minors that they need to check the CDC for disease risks in the areas where they will be traveling, and that they must advise children in their care to use repellant and wear proper clothing when necessary. Cara’s injuries were easily preventable.”
Sources:
Klimas, Liz. "Student Wins $41. 7 Million Settlement for Disease She Contracted on School Trip." The Blaze 29 Mar. 2013: n. pag. Web. 3 May 2013
Image ABC News, “Woman Who Contracted Encephalitis on School Trip Awarded $41.7M.” ABC News  pag. Web 29 March 29 2013 (Courtesy of Munn Family)