Nitro High School
CHARLESTON – A Charleston woman says her son was injured while lifting weights on school property.
Kimberly Goddard, as parent of J.R., filed her complaint June 23 in Kanawha Circuit Court against the Kanawha County Board of Education.
According to the complaint, J.R. is a 13-year-old middle school student. On January 22, he was told by school employees he was required to travel to Nitro High School to lift weights in the football team’s weight room with other members of the middle school football team if he wanted to be a member of the team.
J.R. never had lifted weights before, according to the complaint, and attempted to do so with instruction from ninth-grade boys in the weight room. The complaint says no adults were in the weight room to supervise, and it says school board employees told J.R. the ninth-grade boys would provide instruction.
J.R. attempted to use the leg press machine, but the complaint says the machine was overloaded with weights by the ninth-grade boys. As a result, the machine forcefully came down hard on J.R., and he suffered a broken right hip.
He was required to seek medical treatment that resulted in him having surgery on his right him to repair the damage.
Goddard and J.R. accuse the school board of negligence, saying it had a duty to maintain a safe and secure environment. They say the board breached that duty.
They say J.R. experienced physical pain and suffering as well as loss of enjoyment of life as well as emotional pain and suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, annoyance and inconvenience. They also say J.R. might require additional surgeries in the future as a result of the injury.
They seek compensatory damages for past and future medical expenses. Goddard also says she has incurred lost wages and other economic and non-economic damages because she had to miss work to take care of J.R. and take him for medical treatments. They also seek special and general damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
The plaintiffs are being represented by Wesley H. White of Morgan & Morgan’s Charleston office.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 25-C-756
