The lawsuit claims that Francis D. Raub Middle School and Allentown School District created an environment that led to the assault, according to the legal document. The middle school’s principal, Jose Delgado, and a former superintendent, John Stanford, were also named as defendants.
The case was moved to federal court on Monday, Nov. 4 after initially being filed in the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas on Friday, Oct. 4.
It stems from an incident that involved 10 security guards at the middle school who “needlessly and senselessly attacked and assaulted” a student who was 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighed “barely 80 pounds” on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022, when the incident happened, the lawsuit states. The student posed no threat to the guards at the time.
The attack resulted in “severe orthopedic, neurologic, and emotional injuries,” according to the lawsuit, which is seeking more than $50,000 in damages.
This sort of attack was allowed to happen because of the environment of recklessness and deliberate indifference to safety that was cultivated at the school, the lawsuit claims.