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