The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled that educators cannot sue for emotional distress damages against a school bus contractor whose driver killed six students from a Chattanooga elementary school in 2016.
Durham School Services knew driver Johnthony Walker had a history of speeding and reckless driving – including nodding off while driving and intentionally braking and swerving to cause children to hit their heads – but did nothing about it, according to court records.
In four months of his employment as a bus driver for Durham, Walker crashed three times. The third, in November 2016, proved fatal to six Woodmore Elementary School children and left dozens more students injured and maimed.
(READ MORE: Times Free Press coverage of the Woodmore Elementary bus crash)
Durham, the court concedes, knew Walker’s bad driving could kill. The firm’s inaction in the face of thousands of complaints was “shocking” and “egregious,” the court said.