• February 23, 1981
• Vol. 15
• No. 7

Danny Lassiter Earns $7,500 the Hard Way—Pumping Out Push-Ups, at $39 Per

By Connie Singer

Had it been some acknowledged lord of discipline like Woody Hayes or a boot camp topkick who ordered his son to do 200 push-ups, Bobby Lassiter, 41, of Oxford, Iowa, might not have thought twice. But his boy, Danny, was only 13 when the punishment was meted out last April by a junior high social studies teacher, of all people. "Afterward Danny really swelled up," reports his mother, Marsha. "He looked like the Incredible Hulk." In fact, he was suffering painful muscle inflammations of the chest and arms that released a protein, myoglobin, which for a while threatened his kidneys. As a result Danny's father sued—for $25,000.

The boy concedes that at the time "I wasn't doing too great" at Clear Creek Middle School and that he was, as usual, late with an assignment for teacher Kurt Maas. "I thought there was a policy against corporal punishment," says Maas, 28, who also coaches junior varsity basketball. "So I said, 'Give me 200 push-ups.' I didn't really care how many he did, but wanted to make the point that it would be a lot easier to get the assignment in." He then left Danny to finish the chore by himself.

"I didn't think it would be that difficult," says Danny, who as a wrestler and football guard routinely did 30 at a time. "But after the first 100 it started getting kind of hard. After 150, I knew I had to quit. At 190 or 191, I just got up and went back into class." Two days later he had to be taken to a hospital emergency room. When the school waffled over paying the $240 medical bill, his father, an out-of-work truck driver, hired a lawyer.

Last month the school offered an out-of-court settlement that was accepted: $7,500 to Danny (from which his lawyer took a fee of $2,850) and another $1,000 to his parents. And Clear Creek's superintendent Gary Biles says the school district is drafting "a broad statement covering disciplinary principles."

The Lassiters, who have four children, have already used $1,000 on back rent and a much-needed used car. Danny's tax-free award is in a trust fund until he turns 18. The youngster dreams of becoming a movie stunt man and says, "I'm going to invest it in a business someday." Asked what the experience has taught him, he jokes: "How to do 200 push-ups." But he adds, "I still like Mr. Maas—he's a pretty good teacher. And I've been doing my assignments a lot better for all the teachers."