Mother accuses Cicero school district of negligence over daughter's gym class injury

A woman is suing a Cicero school district, claiming her daughter's hand got crushed in a gate when she sat out of gym class.

Ariana Nunez-Serna, as the mother of her minor daughter, filed a lawsuit April 2 in the Cook County Circuit Court against the Cicero School District 99 and the Town of Cicero, citing negligence and willful conduct.

According to the suit, Nunez-Serna's daughter was injured by a rolling gate she was sitting next to during her gym class on May 24, 2013 at Daniel Burnham Elementary School in Cicero.

Nunez-Serna alleges the gym teacher allowed two children who didn't want to participate in class that day sit near a fence with a large sliding gate. The suit states the other student was rolling the gate back and forth, causing Sanchez's hand to get caught and crushed between the housing unit and metal wheels of the gate.

She is seeking damages in excess of $50,000, as well as court costs, and is being represented by Chicago attorney Richard L. Berdelle Jr. of Richard L. Berdelle Jr. PC.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L005598.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Cook County Courthouse. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.