High Court dismisses RM1mil civil suit over chair prank at school

 Judge says teen with cerebral palsy and her parents failed to prove negligence, or link between the alleged shortcoming in supervision and suffering caused.

The Shah Alam High Court ordered the plaintiffs to pay the six defendants RM10,000 in costs.

SHAH ALAM:

The High Court here today dismissed a RM1 million civil suit brought by a teenage girl with cerebral palsy and her parents against six defendants over a 2023 incident in which she fell after another pupil allegedly pulled a chair from under her at a school here.

The court also ordered the plaintiffs to pay RM10,000 in costs.

In her oral judgment, judicial commissioner Anita Harun ruled that the plaintiffs had failed to prove negligence and the necessary causal link between the alleged shortcoming in supervision and care and the injury or additional suffering claimed.

Anita said the first defendant had admitted to being the only teacher present, with her attention divided between two groups of pupils with different needs.

However, she said the evidence did not establish that the supervision arrangement was unreasonable, or that any reasonable precaution that had been omitted would have prevented the fall.

“The first plaintiff (teenage girl) herself conceded that it happened quickly, without a preceding quarrel. Negligent supervision was not proven,” she said.

The teenager was attending a special education integrated programme at the school when the incident occurred.

Anita said the decision did not dispute the teenager’s injury or the burden on her family, but found that they had failed to prove negligence and a causal link sufficient to establish liability.

Earlier, senior federal counsel Afiq Nazrin Zaharinan, representing all six defendants, sought RM30,000 in costs, while the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Sofian Azmir, sought RM10,000.

The plaintiffs were ordered to pay RM10,000 in costs to all six defendants.

The suit was filed by the teenager’s father, Wan Amey Shahril Wan Ab Rahman, 39, on behalf of himself, his wife and their daughter.

The defendants are three teachers – Ilyana Sari Ridzuan, Suhaida Abdul Rahman and Aizam Naim Junid – headmistress Hamidah Shamsudin, the education ministry and the government.

After the proceedings, Sofian told reporters his clients disagreed with the decision and would file an appeal soon, claiming that several arguments had not been raised.

“We want to stress that this case involves an individual with special needs, and there should have been supervision,” he said.

In August 2024, media reported that the girl, then 12, had spent almost a year battling complications from a spinal injury when she fell after a friend pulled away the chair she was about to sit on.

Her mother, Azera Yazid, 38, first revealed the incident, which occurred on Oct 12, 2023, on TikTok, before the family took legal action to seek compensation for their daughter’s injury and the toll it took on her. - FMT