Case Study:
Wade Banks sued John Fritsch for false imprisonment, assault, and battery on the basis of an incident that occurred at a Kentucky high school. Prior to the incident, Banks had skipped out of or left agricultural wood construction class several times during the spring semester of his junior year at the school. Banks testified at the trial that while he was walking to class, another student told him that the teacher, Fritsch, had a chain and was planning to chain Banks up to keep him from skipping class. When Banks entered the classroom, Fritsch had a large log chain over his shoulder and several key locks on his belt loop. Fritsch told Banks to put his leg up on a chair so that Fritch could fasten the chain to Banks’s ankle. Banks refused, but Fritsch repeated the instruction and Banks then complied. The entire class followed as Fritsch led Banks outside to a tree in an area where the class was painting wood troughs. Fritch locked the chain to the tree and returned to the classroom. After several minutes of effort, Banks managed to free his ankle. When he attempted to leave the school premises, several classmates chased him down, tackled him, and carried him back to the tree. Fritsch returned and placed another chain around Banks’s neck. Banks initially stood up and held up the chain to keep its weight off his neck. After 15 minutes, he tired of holding the chain, sat down, and began crying. When he told another student that the chain was bothering him, the student went to tell Fritsch. Fritsch came out and unfastened the neck chain, but tightened the ankle chain. Fritch began discussing Banks’s grade in the class and told Banks that he could pass if he painted the three remaining wood troughs. Fritsch removed the ankle chain when Banks agreed to do that painting. Banks testified at the trial that he was deeply upset about the chaining and thought about it often. He received unwelcome attention from other students and the media about the incident. As a result, he spent his senior year in Columbia, Missouri, where his father lived. Banks testified that the move was traumatic, that he found it difficult to fit in at his new school, that he saw a psychologist once to discuss the chaining incident, and that he continued to cry and have flashbacks from it. His family stated that he seemed emotionally withdrawn. At the close of all of the evidence, Fritsch moved for a directed verdict. The trial judge granted the motion, ruling as a matter of law in favor of Fritsch instead of submitting the case to the jury. Was the trial court correct in granting Fritsch a directed verdict?
Your answer must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one-inch margins on all sides, APA format and also include references.