Woman, 46, who broke fingers playing musical chairs wants $102,000 payout

A US student in her 40s broke two fingers while playing musical chairs during her psychology class at th College of the Ouachitas in Arkansas.

The incident happened in March 2011, and the college paid for her medical bill.

Seven months later, Ms Robin Earnest filed a claim seeking US$75,000 (S$102,000) in damages from the state.

Last Thursday (July 9), she made her case before the Arkansas Claims Commission.

Ms Earnest, 46, said that by having three people vie for one chair instead of two chairs, the teacher had gone against the universally-recognised rules for musical chairs, reported Arkansas Online.

The woman, who was on the dean's list at that time, also claimed the game was unsafe, and that she felt compelled to play for fear of not getting "participation points".

Ms Earnest, who won the game, argued that the state should pay for the operations and physical therapy that she has had to go through, as well as for the emotional and mental distress she has suffered, reported Newser.

Hurt her hand elsewhere?

The state, however, claimed that Ms Earnest told her teacher two weeks after the injury that she had hurt her hand again after a door slammed on it – a claim which Ms Earnest has denied.

The teacher, Ms June Prince, said she has organised musical chairs many times before without incident.

State attorneys wrote: "As musical chairs is a game commonly played by school-age children across the country, there is simply no basis for (Ms Earnest) to claim that it was negligent for the College to allow adults to participate in this type of activity."

According to court documents, Ms Earnest and her husband support themselves and their children with their disability payments from the state.

The case is still ongoing.

Sources: Arkansas Online, Newser