A lawsuit filed Wednesday against Los Angeles Unified alleges the school district failed to protect a boy from being bullied by other students, causing him to attempt suicide.
The boy is identified in the Los Angeles Superior Court complaint only as G.C. The suit, filed on his behalf by his mother, alleges negligence and assault and battery and seeks unspecified damages.
An LAUSD representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The suit says that at the start of the 2013 school year, the boy, then 10 years old, began being harassed by other boys at San Antonio Elementary School in Huntington Park, including one named Oscar.
“The bullying and assaults consisted of sexual name-calling and getting pushed, kicked, harassed and followed on the playground and in class,” according to the lawsuit, which says the perpetrators told their classmate not to tell anyone what they were doing to him.
However, after a teacher reported that students were fighting and the plaintiff was ordered to the principal’s office, he revealed that he was being harassed by fellow students, the suit states. Oscar was given detention, but no assurance was given to the plaintiff or his parents that the bullying would be stopped, according to the complaint.
Oscar, angry about being punished, increased his bullying and began physically hitting the plaintiff, the suit states.
“The school’s administration failed to follow its own anti-bullying policies and instead took little, if any, effective action to remedy the situation,” according to the complaint.
Feeling hopeless about his situation, the youngster attempted suicide by placing a plastic bag over his head on Oct. 7, 2013, the suit states.
“Fortunately, plaintiff’s father walked into (his son’s) bedroom during the suicide attempt and immediately summoned emergency medical aid,” according to the suit, which says the boy’s medical records state he “didn’t want to live anymore” because of the harassment.
The child, now 11, remained hospitalized for mental evaluation for four days until being allowed to go home, but continues to be treated for psychological difficulties, the suit says.
— City News Service