The family of an 8-year-old girl has settled its lawsuit with Horry County school officials for $175,000, ending a legal fight over a school bus incident that left the child’s arm caught in the door. Stephanie Floyd-McInnis, the girl’s mother, said the settlement marked the end of a traumatic time for her family.
The case was tied to an Aug. 25, 2023, ride home from Pee Dee Elementary School, when the girl’s arm was trapped in the bus door. A federal lawsuit filed by Floyd-McInnis in 2024 named Thomas Michael Interlandi and the school district, and it said video surveillance showed the girl interacting with Interlandi and another adult female before the door closed on her arm.
By the account in the lawsuit, about 90 seconds passed as the driver and assistant told her to get off the bus and she refused. Interlandi then shut the door on her arm and drove in reverse for about 30 seconds with her arm still outside before stopping and opening the door. As she was leaving, he told her, “OK, goodbye. Serves her right.”
The settlement closes a case that moved from a school-bus injury to a criminal charge and then into civil court. Interlandi was initially arrested and charged with unlawful conduct toward a child, but that case was later dismissed. A district spokesperson said his employment ended on Aug. 29, 2023, just days after the incident.
What the agreement does not spell out is how the $175,000 will be divided or whether any other terms were included. That leaves the settlement as both the final legal step and the one unresolved detail: how the parties chose to divide the money after a case built around a child’s injury, a dismissed charge and a family that says it wanted the matter closed while still making sure other parents knew what happened.
