The primary school teacher who sued her employer, the Ministry
of Education (MOE), has settled the case.
Lawyers acting for Ms Sivakami Sivanantham and the Ministry
appeared before High Court Judge Belinda Ang in a closed-door
hearing on Monday where they agreed to enter into an interim
judgment.
MediaCorp understands that expenses arising from the incident have
been apportioned between the two parties.
Ms Sivakami, who’s 39, had sued the MOE for damages and claimed
that the ministry had been negligent in not ensuring that she had a
safe working environment.
She found herself locked inside Zhangde Primary School one Saturday
morning in Feb, 2006.
Ms Sivakami panicked and attempted to get out of the school by
climbing through a ventilation opening where she then found herself
hanging by her hands close to 4m above the ground.
She eventually let go, falling to the ground and fracturing her
ankle.
Ms Sivakami was hospitalised at the Singapore General Hospital for
a week and was on medical leave for more than a year.
During the five-day long hearing last October, the High Court heard
Ms Sivakami still suffers from psychological distress.
While psychiatrist Ung Eng Khean anticipates her condition will
improve, he felt that Ms Sivakami would remain vulnerable to a
relapse if faced with another crisis.
The school’s principal, operations manager and other school staff
testified on the school’s operating procedures.
MediaCorp understands that Ms Sivakami still teaches at Zhangde
Primary.
-- 938Live