Wallace v. Rosen

765 N.E.2d 192 (2002)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D was a teacher at Northwest High School in Indianapolis. The high school had a fire drill while classes were in session. The drill was not previously announced. P was at the high school delivering homework to her daughter Lalaya. P was recovering from foot surgery, and Lalaya's class was on the second floor. Lalaya's boyfriend Eric accompanied P up the stairs. There were near the top of the staircase when they saw Lalaya and began to speak with her. Another student joined the conversation. The alarm then sounded, and students began filing down the stairs while P took a step or two up the stairs to the second-floor landing. D escorted her class to the designated stairway and noticed three or four people talking together at the top of the stairway and blocking the students' exit. D told everybody to move it. P claims she was unable to hear D over the noise of the alarm and D had to touch her on the back to get her attention. D told P to get moving because there was a fire drill. P testified that D pushed her down the stairs. D denied pushing P and testified that P had not fallen, but rather had made her way down the stairs unassisted and without losing her balance. The court gave an incurred risk instruction. The jury found in favor of D and P appealed.