LAS VEGAS, NV – Two years after a video of an unprovoked attack on a student in a Las Vegas High School classroom went viral, a family has filed a lawsuit against the school district.
Attorneys representing the family filed the lawsuit on Wednesday, Jan. 31, in Clark County District Court, listing the Clark County School District, Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara, principals Ronnie Guerzon and Raymond Ortiz, and teacher Brooke Rawlins as defendants.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada said the lawsuit aims to hold the Clark County School District accountable for a brutal attack on a student at Las Vegas High School on Feb. 1, 2022. Attorney James R. Sweetin, Esq., stated, “There are many looming questions about CCSD’s actions here and we look forward to what will likely be extensive litigation to establish that CCSD could have prevented this incident from occurring.”
A video of the incident showed a 15-year-old student doing school work when another student approached her from behind and began to hit her in the back of the head, knocking her unconscious. The lawsuit claims the victim did nothing to provoke the attack.
The accused attacker hit the victim 30 times, continuing even after she lost consciousness, as seen and heard in the video with a teacher telling the attacker to stop.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the minor student and her mother, claimed that inadequate training and the policies in place by CCSD caused the victim to be physically abused, which violated her 14th Amendment rights.
As a result of negligence by school and district leaders, the victim sustained serious injury to her body and nervous system that continue to cause her pain, suffering, and disability.
According to the lawsuit, before the beating, the accused attacker approached the victim and made threatening statements toward her while the two were in a math class at Las Vegas High School.
The victim then told the assigned teacher about the threats made toward her and indicated a concern for her safety, but the lawsuit alleges that the teacher did nothing to protect the victim before the beating occurred.
The accused attacker had previously been removed from Las Vegas High School for an “extended period of time” for disciplinary problems and the defendants knew the accused attacker had a “history of violence” and making threats toward other students.
The lawsuit also claimed the accused attacker had been placed back into a classroom with the victim and other students, violating Nevada law.
The lawsuit asks for the victim and her mother to be awarded general and special damages in excess of $15,000, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, costs of court, and any other relief the court may award.