Abstract: At approximately 8:00 a.m. on November 06, 2003, an employee, a school teacher, went to the front office of Lindley Elementary School and told the secretary that she needed a custodian's assistance in putting up a screen in the auditorium. The employee was to present a "power-point" presentation that evening in the auditorium to an audience of parents. She had earlier requested from the principal to have the afternoon off; the principal had granted the employee's request. The employee requested the principal to telephone a custodian, and said that the screen had to be set up by that same afternoon. The principal telephoned the custodian's office to submit the employee's request, but no one answered the phone. The principal knew that no male custodians were at the school at that time. She left a voice mail message on the custodians' phone system which explained the employee's request for assistance. The principal also put a note in the custodians' mail box which repeated this request for assistance. The principal told the employee that custodian would not be reporting in to the school for work that day until around 10:30 a.m. The employee then left the office around 8:05 a.m. The principal also posted a note to herself on her computer monitor reminding herself to see that this request was taken care of. Between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m., the employee telephoned the principal on her cell phone. The employee told the principal that she had fallen off a chair in the auditorium and that she needed help. The employee said that she had been hurt and that she wanted the principal to bring workers compensation papers and forms. The principal asked her where she was. The employee told the principal that she was in her office. The principal then got the "OSHA book," other paperwork and workers compensation forms and walked to the employee's office. The auditorium and the principal's office were in the older, separate building of the Lindley Elementary School. The employee's office was in the newer building which was connected via covered breezeway to the older main school building. When the principal arrived at the employee's office around 9:35 to 9:40 a.m., she observed that the employee was pale and sitting in a chair beside her work table. The principal stated that the employee was shaking all over, extremely agitated, nervous and wanted to lie down. The principal said that she was concerned that the employee might go into shock or suffer a heart attack. The employee telephoned her husband on her school cell phone. The employee's husband agreed that his wife should be taken to the Weley Long Memorial Hospital which was approximately 2 minutes travel distance from the school. The principal used her own school cell phone to call the emergency medical services. She then called a coworker, Student Information Management System technician, who was back in the older main school building to watch for the ambulance and when seen, to flag and direct it to the newer building's parking lot where the employee's office back door opened into the parking lot. The principal stated that within 2 minutes of her call, the ambulance pulled into the parking lot right next to employee's office back door. The ambulance then transported the employee to Weley Long Memorial Hospital. The principal stated that the employee had told another principal at a later date that she, the employee, had replaced and returned the chair, that she had stood on to put up the screen on the auditorium's stage, back to the lobby of the auditorium before she left the main building to walk to her office. The employee later died.