Crime & Safety
Boy, 15, Tentatively Settles Bullying Suit Vs. LA Unified
The boy claimed he was repeatedly bullied and in one instance manhandled by an adult staff member.
LOS ANGELES, CA — A tentative settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a teenager against the Los Angeles Unified School District in which the plaintiff alleged he was repeatedly bullied and in one instance manhandled by an adult staff member at Johnnie Cochran Middle School.
The teen, now 15, is identified only as A.P. in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit in which he also contended that he was attacked off- campus and suffered a fractured hand. His mother maintained that her request for a school transfer was granted only after her son suffered severe trauma.
On Monday, the boy's attorneys filed court papers with Judge Alexander C.D. Giza notifying him of a "conditional" resolution in the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be filed by Sept. 15.
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No terms were divulged.
In their previous court papers, LAUSD attorneys contended the boy's lawyers had not offered any facts showing the existence of a breach of a legal duty on the part of the district, which the lawyers additionally said was immune from A.P.'s claims.
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According to A.P.'s suit, he attended seventh and eighth grade at Cochran Middle School during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. During that time, other students, including one female, subjected A.P. to bullying, including both verbal and physical assaults, the suit alleged.
School staff received notice of the ongoing harassment of A.P. and failed to take the appropriate steps necessary to protect him and in April 2024 a school staff member permitted one of the bullies to follow the teen into a bathroom in order to attack him, according to the suit.
That same month, A.P. was at a bus stop off-campus when a young man the plaintiff believed to be related to the female student as well as the female pupil herself approached the plaintiff and the male attacked the plaintiff, leaving him with a closed hand fracture, the suit alleged.
In October 2024, a school staff member physically tackled A.P. instead of protecting him from another student who was bullying the plaintiff, the suit stated. A.P.'s emotional distress from the ongoing harassment led his mother to get him transferred to another school, the suit filed in June 2025 further stated.
City News Service
