The Virginia elementary school teacher shot by her 6-year-old student in January is no longer working with the school, with the district and lawyers disputing whether she was fired or resigned from her post.
Abigail Zwerner, 25, was a first-grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News when her student brought a gun into the classroom and shot her. Zwerner suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and hand but survived after spending two weeks in the hospital.
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Michelle Price, spokeswoman for Newport News Public Schools, told the Washington Examiner in a statement that Zwerner notified the human resources department at Richneck Elementary in March that she would be resigning from her teaching position effective Monday.
According to a copy of the emails obtained by the Washington Examiner, Zwerner asked the school about accessing intent forms for next year on March 13 at 11:37 a.m.
The school told her the intent deadline passed but that her email response could be used "as your intent to return or resign at the end of the school year."
Zwerner sent a reply 20 minutes later, stating, "I wish to resign. Thank you."
A "separation of employment" email was sent to Zwerner on March 20 twice, which detailed where she should return specific identification items and technology belonging to the school.
"NNPS has processed a separation of employment for you effective the close of business 06/12/2023. The purpose of this letter is to provide you with important exiting information," the email read.
The school year ended on Friday, June 9, with the issuing of the final report cards, per the school district's 2022-2023 calendar.
Attorney Jeffrey Breit, who represents Zwerner, said the teacher was "shocked" by the school's actions and is arguing that she was "fired."
“I don’t think you can read this any other way than you’ve been fired,” Breit said in an interview with WAVY News 10. “And that’s what she thinks. She doesn’t understand it; there’s no other communication.”
In response to his comments, Price said, "The email that Ms. Zwerner received from the Human Resources Department is a confirmation of her separation of service from Newport News Public Schools. Every employee who is separating from the school division receives a similar communication."
According to Breit, Zwerner also has not been paid since February. She was shot on Jan. 6. The lawyer claimed the school tried to make her take workers' compensation, but she did not take it, so they stopped paying her.
“To say we were shocked is an understatement; we have litigation,” Breit said. “They haven’t paid her in a couple of months. They are trying to squeeze her. She has to Aug. 1 to leave or re-sign, [but] they fire her two months early. The only thing I can think, they were trying to put pressure on her because we filed suit. It’s outrageous, as outrageous as I’ve ever seen.”
In response, Price said the district's policy is for an injured employee to utilize seven days of sick leave before workers' compensation begins.
"HR leadership did not process the seven days of sick leave (an exercise of discretion based on the unusual situation). Ms. Zwerner was on admin leave with pay until workers’ compensation payments began. Like other Richneck employees, Ms. Zwerner was paid for the time that Richneck was closed for staff and students (she was not charged sick leave during this time)," Price said.
Price added that Zwerner "refused" workers' compensation, so HR staff used sick leave to continue compensation for Zwerner. When that was exhausted, "she was placed on unpaid FMLA, in accordance with federal law and school board policy. Had Ms. Zwerner accepted workers’ compensation, she would have received 66 2/3% of her average weekly wages tax-free.”
Zwerner is already suing the school district for $40 million over previous warnings about the student's behavior and a tip received on the day of the shooting that the 6-year-old might have a weapon in his backpack. School employees searched his bag upon arrival but did not locate the weapon, and it is unclear how the gun got into the classroom.
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The student's mother, Deja Taylor, is facing federal and state charges in connection to the shooting. She was indicted on state charges in April and said on June 6 she would plead guilty to additional federal charges levied against her.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Zwerner for comment.