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Jury Awards $4 Million To Boy Injured In Game At School

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By CHRIS ECHEGARAY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 23, 2007

TAMPA - A 16-year-old Tampa boy who suffered permanent damage to his arm at school and his parents were awarded $4 million by a Hillsborough County jury Monday.

Danny Heidenberg and his parents, Howard Heidenberg and Sandra Goodman, had sued the Hillel School, a Jewish private school in Tampa.

According to the lawsuit, Danny Heidenberg's left arm was broken in a schoolyard football game in which a ball is thrown up and the person catching it is tackled. The students commonly referred to the game using an offensive slur, the suit states.

The family also alleged there was no supervision, and the jury agreed.

The verdict comes as schools and state lawmakers are trying to curb bullying and school violence. An anti-bullying bill passed in the House but died in the Senate this year.

Heidenberg was 12 when a student the lawsuit states was a known bully jumped on him during the game.

The jury ruled in the Heidenbergs' favor because school officials were negligent in supervising the game, the family's attorney, David Tirella, said.

Teachers went inside before the students during recess on Jan. 29, 2004, the lawsuit states.

Heidenberg wants to be a surgeon like both of his parents, but with nerve damage in his arm, that will be difficult, Tirella said.

"The break was so bad it tore a nerve in his forearm," Tirella said. "There's permanent nerve injury. He has screws; there's paralysis and deformity."

Danny Heidenberg's parents said their son has done his best to compensate for the injury and is trying to be a normal teen.

"None of us can ever speak for the future," Goodman said. "In spite of what we've been told by some doctors, he will do his best to achieve and follow his dreams. That's at least our hope and prayers for him."

Goodman, a South Tampa fertility specialist, said her son transferred from the school after that year. She said she hopes the suit prompts the school to provide proper supervision for students.

"We are grateful to the jury for finally giving our family and son a chance to be heard," she said. "For us it was about justice and a need for there to be some accountability."

Tirella said the school never reprimanded the student who jumped on Danny or apologized for what happened.

"The young man who jumped on my client testified it would not have happened if there was supervision," he said. "He apologized this week."

Efforts to reach Hillel School officials were unsuccessful.

Reporter Chris Echegaray can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or cechegaray@tampatrib.com.

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