$10.75 Million for Boarding Student Impaled by Bamboo at Miller School of Albemarle

On October 24, 2018, a 15-year-old sophomore at the Miller School of Albemarle, a private boarding school near Crozet, Virginia, was taking part in a mandatory volunteer maintenance project near the Rivanna River. The group had been directed to clear bamboo on property used by VFW Post 1827. Workers who had previously maintained the site had cut cane stalks, leaving sharp, spear-like points at ground level.

The student lost his footing on the uneven terrain. He fell onto one of those cut stalks and was impaled through his lower torso. The bamboo cane penetrated his anal sphincter, punctured his rectal wall, skewered his bladder, and perforated his abdominal wall. Emergency care stabilized him, but the internal damage was severe and permanent.

Surgeon and expert testimony established that the injuries caused permanent infertility, with scar tissue in the vas deferens blocking sperm production. The plaintiff also faced ongoing risks of incontinence and erectile dysfunction, along with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. Both parties' medical experts agreed the reproductive harm was irreversible.

Kevin Biniazan of Breit Biniazan, along with co-counsel Scott Perry, argued that the Miller School failed to identify a foreseeable hazard when it directed students to work alongside those sharpened stalks without adequate supervision or safety precautions. The VFW and one of its employees were also named as defendants. The VFW Post settled its portion of the claim for $750,000 before trial.

The Charlottesville Circuit Court jury deliberated roughly four and a half hours before returning a $10 million verdict against the Miller School. Combined with the $750,000 VFW settlement, the total recovery reached $10.75 million. No appeal reduced that figure. The verdict appeared on Virginia Lawyers Weekly's list of the state's million-dollar jury verdicts for 2022.