A California school district was court ordered to pay $1 million for failing to protect a middle school student who was “bullied, tormented and verbally assaulted” by fellow teens who started a petition to end her life.
A jury ruled that the El Segundo Unified School District was careless in training and supervising its workers, who then failed to protect 13-year-old Eleri Irons from three bullies between November 2017 to June 2018.
A lawsuit filed in 2019 reportedly Irons suffered PTSD, cut herself, and sought refuge in the school nurse’s office nearly every lunch break.
The torment began when teachers failed to act after finding out about a petition that was circulating in school entitled “Let’s kill Eleri Irons.”
“When Irons’ parents asked school officials for help, they simply dismissed the concerns as drama over a teen love triangle,” the teen’s attorney Christa Ramey said.
“Former El Segundo Middle School principal Principal Melissa Gooden, who is now an executive director of human resources with the district, allegedly lied about calling police as soon as she learned of the death threat in June 2018,” Ramey said. She didn’t call the police that day. She attempted to make it seem like they did everything they could, but in reality, during the entire year, they didn’t do anything. They never investigated a single claim of bullying made by my client.”
A police report was filed a day after the petition came to light and moments before administrators met with Irons’ parents. No one was arrested and the students involved were reportedly suspended.
“Every teacher, counselor and administrator who touched this case failed not only my client, but also the aggressors and every other student at the school,” Ramey said in a statement. “Bullying is to be taken seriously and the administrators are culpable when they don’t stop it.”
El Segundo Superintendent Melissa Moore said the district, which enrolls about 3,500 students, added two new student safety positions at two elementary schools and implemented a district-wide safety plan.
“As a school district, we respect the ruling of the court and acknowledge the findings of the lawsuit,” Moore said in a statement. “The next steps are up to our legal counsel. As we move forward, we are committed to self-improvement and doing everything we can to prevent bullying in our schools.”
Irons, now 18, reportedly said in a statement that she remained traumatized but has forgiven her main bully.
“I am so thankful that I have been able to share my experience and to actually be taken seriously so that the next time a child asks for help, the school will address it the way they should have for me.”
