The Horry County School District settled a lawsuit after a girl's arm got caught in the door of a bus while it was in motion (The Bailey Law Firm via WMBF).
A South Carolina mother has settled her lawsuit against a school district after a bus driver allegedly continued to drive despite her 8-year-old daughter's arm being caught in the door.
The Horry County School District will fork over $175,000 to Stephanie Floyd-McInnis as part of the settlement. Horry Schools was negligent in hiring Interlandi and did not provide him with enough training, the lawsuit argued.
"As a mother, my first priority is to make sure that my daughter is safe and cared for at all times," Floyd-McInnis told local NBC affiliate WMBF. "This bus driver and the school system failed my child in this instance. While we are looking forward to putting this matter behind us, I felt it was important to step up for my daughter and to also ensure that other parents were made aware of what transpired on that bus in the hopes that no other child has to go through something like this."
According to the federal lawsuit reviewed by Law&Crime, the incident occurred on Aug. 25, 2023. The girl was set to walk off the bus at her stop in the Conway area when she saw dogs she was scared of and retreated inside. The driver, Thomas Michael Interlandi, "angrily demanded" the girl get off the bus, but she refused, citing the dogs, the suit stated.
Interlandi shut the door, trapping the girl's arm, before reversing the bus to a spot away from the dogs. The girl told Interlandi that her arm was caught but he kept driving, according to the lawsuit. Interlandi told the girl that having her arm caught "serves you right," plaintiff lawyers said. He later told a bus aide that the girl "shouldn't have put her hand there" while whining "you see what I have to go through?"
Plaintiff lawyer Tyler D. Bailey of the Bailey Law Firm wrote that Interlandi's actions were no accident.
"Rather, it was an inhumane abuse of official power and shocking to the conscious to the extent that he was later arrested by law enforcement and criminally charged for his actions in this matter," Bailey wrote.
Charges of unlawfully placing a child at risk or causing harm were later dismissed. The district let Interlandi go after the incident.
The girl suffered "severe" injuries that required medical treatment.
"No parent should have to wonder whether their child is safe on the ride home from school," Bailey told WMBF. "Stephanie stood up for her daughter, and in doing so she stood up for every child on those buses. This resolution holds the system accountable and forces a conversation about the safeguards our schools owe these kids."
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