Injury of college student results in lawsuit
A student at Waynesburg College has sued the school claiming he was disfigured when his left arm got caught in a miter saw while working on a play set as part of a requirement for his theater class. In the suit, filed in federal court in Pittsburgh, Steven E. Hawkins of Morgantown, W.Va., claimed that he was taking the Introduction to Theater class when he worked on the play set on Feb. 23, 2005. The instructor, who was not identified in the suit, required students to accumulate theater experience hours outside of the classroom.
Hawkins, according to the suit, was working on the set with others in the Performing Arts Center. He was operating a miter saw when his left shirt sleeve got pulled into the blade area.
As a result, his left arm was seriously injured, according to the suit.
Hawkins’ arm had to be amputated at the forearm, and then reattached, according to the suit, and he suffered injuries to the tendons, muscles, ligaments, arteries, veins and tissue of his left forearm.
The suit claimed the college personnel failed to train students and staff in proper use of the saw and to supervise them and asked for a judgment in excess of $75,000.