A teaching assistant was convicted of unlawful deprivation of liberty, a less serious crime, after locking a student in a storage room at the school, according to official sources. The assistant was also ordered to pay 5,000 SEK in compensation for violation to the student under Chapter 2, Section 3 of the Damages Act, official sources said. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate then filed a lawsuit on behalf of the student, demanding that Malmö Municipality pay compensation according to Chapter 6, Section 12 of the Education Act, official sources reported.
The basis for the lawsuit was that the student had been subjected to degrading treatment that was not minor and that the municipality, as the responsible authority for the school, had violated Chapter 6, Section 9 of the Education Act, which states staff must not subject a student to degrading treatment, according to official sources. The Supreme Court states that compensation under the Education Act should be determined according to general principles of damages law, and that one such principle is that the injured party should neither be overcompensated nor undercompensated, official sources said. The Supreme Court concludes that the Schools Inspectorate's claim for compensation for degrading treatment under the Education Act and the previously awarded compensation for violation under the Damages Act concern the same damage, namely the violation the student was subjected to when he was locked in the storage room, according to official sources.
If the student were to receive additional compensation beyond what he has already received, it would mean that he becomes overcompensated, the court found. The Schools Inspectorate's lawsuit is therefore dismissed, official sources confirmed. The specific actions constituting the 'degrading treatment' beyond being locked in the storage room have not been detailed, and it is unclear why the Schools Inspectorate filed a separate lawsuit after the teaching assistant was already convicted and ordered to pay compensation.