Lawsuit Says California Student Suffered Brain Damage In Bullying Incident

A California mother has filed a lawsuit against a Los Angeles School District after her son was left with serious injuries from a bullying incident last year. She says that her son suffered permanent brain damage and spinal injuries when an older student attacked him in front of Animo Westside Charter Middle School.

A surveillance camera captured the brutal attack. The victim, who was 12-years-old at the time, was punched in the stomach by a 14-year-old boy. He then pushed the younger boy up against a wall and began to choke him as a crowd of students gathered around.

At one point, a female teacher walked past the lopsided fight and did nothing to try to stop it.

The boy's mother says he had several seizures, but the school did not call 911 until she arrived nearly 30 minutes later.

"I get there, and he's still laid out on the ground, black and blue, and no one is there," the boy's mother told NBC Los Angeles. "We're hearing from other students while we're there like 'oh he was choked out,' someone found a pressure point until he blacked out.

She also claims that the school was aware of previous bullying incidents involving the older student but "failed to take adequate action in order to protect the other students at the school."

"The staff did everything wrong, every step of the way, and showed a callous disregard for my 12-year-old client's life and well being," her lawyer, Ben Meiselas said. "This is unacceptable, and every adult working for this school should be haunted by their conduct for the rest of their lives."

The mother says that she does not want to press criminal charges against the bully, but she believes he should be expelled from the school.


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