A tentative settlement has been reached in a 14-year-old boy’s lawsuit against the Claremont Unified School District that alleged the CUSD and school officials failed to protect him from students who bullied and attacked him on campus and forced his mother to withdraw him from the school for his protection in 2023.
The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit was brought on the minor’s behalf by his mother and it alleged assault and battery, dangerous condition of public property, negligent supervision and negligent hiring, training and retention. On Friday, the boy’s attorneys filed court papers with Judge Rupert A. Byrdsong notifying him of a “conditional” resolution of the case. No terms were divulged and because the boy is a minor, the settlement is subject to the judge’s approval during a hearing set Jan. 9.
In their previous court papers, CUSD attorneys denied any liability on the district’s part and cited multiple defenses, including that the plaintiff contributed to his own negligence and that any recovery should be reduced accordingly. The defense lawyers also maintain that the CUSD’s actions were reasonable in light of the circumstances.
According to the suit filed in September 2023, the boy, who now lives in Ontario, attended El Roble Intermediate School and both the school and district had a duty to protect the plaintiff from bullying by other students while he was on campus. The district knew the other student had a prior history that included stealing the plaintiff’s shoes, telling him he should die and threatening members of his Little League team, including the umpire, the suit stated.
El Roble School also has an ongoing issue with students fighting and starting baseless rumors that other pupils spoke disparagingly about someone’s mother, sister or other family member in order to instigate a fight, the suit stated.
At about 9 a.m. May 23, 2023, the plaintiff’s assailant accused the boy of speaking negatively about the attacker’s sister, prompting the plaintiff to try and ease the situation while other students laughed and began recording with their phones, the suit stated.
The plaintiff’s assailant pushed the boy six times against a wall, punched him the face four times, put him in a headlock and wrestled him to the ground before pummeling him another four times, the suit stated.
School staff members were “nowhere to be found,” according to the suit, which further stated that on the same day, three other boys tried to jump the plaintiff and the school employees did not call the plaintiff’s mother.
Although the initial attacker was suspended for a week, no other steps were taken to protect the plaintiff, who had three classes with the other student, or against the other three students who attempted to attack him, the suit stated.
Three days later, a fifth student used one of his shoulders to bump the plaintiff in a hallway and that child also was not disciplined, the suit alleged.
The plaintiff’s mother contacted the school many times requesting a plan to keep her son safe, but she was ignored and she ultimately withdrew him from the school in his eighth grade year, the suit stated. Some other parents have withheld their children from classes at El Roble School and the negative atmosphere has had a negative impact on the quality of education because good students are afraid of unwarranted attacks, according to the suit.
The plaintiff’s health has been negatively impacted along with his emotional state as he has suffered fright, nightmares, grief, worry and shock, the suit stated.