Boy Alleges LAUSD Charter School Employee Spat in His Face

WEST HILLS, CA — A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a 14-year- old boy who alleges a Los Angeles Unified School District employee spat in his face and later told him he was lucky an administrator intervened and saved his life.

The West Hills boy is identified only as A.D. in the Los Angeles Superior Court complaint that was brought by his mother, alleging battery, civil rights violations, negligence, negligent hiring, retention and supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The staff member who allegedly spat at the boy is a co-defendant.

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The suit seeks unspecified compensatory as well as punitive damages against the employee. But in their court papers, attorneys for the district deny the boy's allegations and cite multiple defenses, including immunity and that the causes of action were not foreseeable.

According to the suit, the boy began attending George Ellery Hale Charter Academy in August 2024 expecting a safe, supportive educational environment. But in the spring 2025 semester, another student in his science class put a gym bag over the plaintiff's head and tightened the straps around his neck, according to the suit, which additionally states that no teachers intervened.

The boy was left with both pain and emotional distress, the suit states.

During a school assembly later that semester, a faculty member directed the plaintiff to move and then another staff member yelled at the boy, called him a coward and spat in the boy's face, the suit states. An administrator interceded and escorted the boy to a counselor's office, according to the suit.

The staff member who allegedly spat on the boy told the child that he was fortunate that the administrator became involved and "saved plaintiff's life," the suit further states. The school notified the boy's parents and he did not return to in-school instruction, but there were frequent problems with the online learning portal that were not corrected, according to the suit filed Jan. 8 and amended on March 24.

"As a result, plaintiff found it very difficult and at times was unable to complete schoolwork for several weeks at the end of the school year," according to the complaint, which further states that the boy has been in ongoing therapy because of his emotional distress.