A Southern California school district will pay the family of a 13-year-old boy $27 million as part of the largest school bullying settlement in American history, according to the family’s attorneys. The child was beaten by two of his classmates at lunch and died as a result.
Following Diego Stolz’s death in September 2019, his guardians Juana and Felipe Salcedo sued the Moreno Valley Unified School District, claiming that the administrators had disregarded several of their complaints that Stolz was being bullied between 2018 and 2019. After the passing of his parents, they were appointed as his guardians.
On Wednesday, a resolution was reached.
According to lawyer Neil Gehlawat, “This lawsuit puts schools on notice to find ways to successfully cope with bullying along with enact real anti-bullying policies.” “Although his family’s pain will never go away, we think there will be real change, and anti-bullying initiatives will receive renewed attention across the country,”
A district spokeswoman stated that they had no media-related comments.
Stolz passed away nine days after being sucker-punched at lunch by a student, according to lawyers Gehlawat & Dave Ring in a news release. Stolz was knocked to the ground and struck his head on a concrete pillar. When Stolz fell on the ground, they claimed that another student hit him in the face.
Stolz was seen standing with his hands by his sides in cell phone footage that the attorneys released. According to the family’s counsel, this was a “clear signal that he did not intend to fight, and was unwilling to escalate the situation.” In the footage, a boy is seen swinging at Stolz. Stolz is knocked to the ground by another child who swings and strikes him in the head. The first boy then charges forward Stolz and strikes him once more, as shown in the video.
According to the lawyers, Stolz was taken to the hospital right away for treatment of a severe brain injury and put on life support. On September 25, 2019, he lost consciousness and never recovered.
According to the Associated Press, the two involved adolescents, who were 14 at the time, submitted what would have been guilty pleas in juvenile court for involuntary manslaughter and assault with a dangerous weapon. They were detained as minors for 47 days and were mandated to attend anger management counseling.
The guardians of Stolz claim that he had already been bullied before the deadly incident. According to the news release, Stolz sought assistance from his science teacher on September 12 after receiving a sucker blow to the head.
The family’s attorneys stated that the instructor alerted the assistant principal of the incident and that she had promised to analyze the CCTV film to identify the offenders but had not done so.
The adult daughter of the Salcedos went to see the assistant principal of the school with Stolz the following day. According to the news release, the assistant principal informed the pupils that she was aware of the identity of the accused bullies and that the children in question would be suspended. In order to prevent Stolz from taking classes with the bullies, the assistant principal also promised to rearrange the timetables, but the attorneys claim that she never followed through.
In their lawsuit, the family claimed that the district had “a long history” of not defending youngsters who are being bullied. Additionally, they claimed that the district did not implement sufficient safety measures to safeguard the youngsters.
In a letter to parents on Wednesday, the district head of schools stated that many anti-bullying changes have been made in the wake of Stolz’s passing. Martinrex Kedziora, the superintendent, listed some of these modifications as “a district-wide consolidated online bullying form,” “classroom posters that define bullying along with how to report bullying,” and more.
“The Moreno Valley Unified School System Board of Education wants you to know that we genuinely care about every student and member of the staff in our system. We did not take lightly the news of Diego’s passing. Our number one concern will always be the safety and well-being of our students, said Kedziora.
The family’s lawyer stated that although they would “forever be heartbroken” by Stolz’s passing, they are hopeful that his story “brings regarding change in school districts across the country.”