By Paul Gattis
Huntsville City Schools agreed to pay $250,000 to a student who was physically bullied to the extent that he will require medical treatment for the rest of his life, according to the federal lawsuit filed in 2021.
The terms of lawsuit settlement were filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday.
The settlement resulted from a mediation conference in March, according to a court filing. The school district’s board of education subsequently voted to approve the terms of the settlement.
The student was identified in the lawsuit as “John Doe” and he was 8 years old and a student at Mountain Gap School when the bullying occurred at the hands of three classmates, the lawsuit said. The victim suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome as well as Charcot-Marie-Tooth Syndrome.
The victim was repeatedly held down and beaten by the classmates, including to the area of his genitals. As a result of the beatings, the lawsuit said, the victim required the surgical removal of one of his testicles in February 2017. He may lose his remaining testicle as well, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said the victim’s teachers were told about the bullying and did not intervene.
Defendants in the lawsuit are Huntsville City Schools Board of Education, teachers Sharissa Cagle-Bailey and Robert Person, principal Heather Bardwell, assistant principals Belissa Howard and Leslie Zurowski.
The bullying occurred from August 2016 to December 2016, the lawsuit said. All occurrences of bullying took place on school grounds, the lawsuit said. John Doe’s mother made repeated appeals to the teachers at the school to stop the bullying, the lawsuit said.
About half of the settlement will cover attorney fees and expenses as well as medical expenses for John Doe. The remaining money will go into accounts for John Doe, according to the settlement agreement.
“The court is satisfied this settlement is just, fair, reasonable and in the best interests of the minor child,” U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala wrote in her order approving the settlement.
