A mother has filed a lawsuit against the City of New York and the New York City Department of Education (DOE) alleging a boy was assaulted in an antisemitic attack at a Staten Island public school, Egbert Intermediate School (I.S. 2) in Midland Beach

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Home / New York School District Slapped with Lawsuit over Student’s Anti-Jewish Assault

New York School District Slapped with Lawsuit over Student’s Anti-Jewish Assault

October 26, 2024

A mother has filed a lawsuit against the City of New York and the New York City Department of Education (DOE) alleging a boy was assaulted in an antisemitic attack at a Staten Island public school.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the boy who is identified in court documents only by his initials, contests that the city and the DOE were negligent in their duties at the time of the assault.

In terms of compensation, the plaintiff is seeking unspecified damages following the alleged lack of a response to the beating suffered during recess at Egbert Intermediate School (I.S. 2) in Midland Beach, according to court documents.

The victim in this attack was a student at the middle school from September 2022 through October 2023, as shared in court filings.

It was on Oct. 25, 2023, just more than two weeks after the terror attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that the boy was assaulted by a group of students, the filing alleges.

The child, a 7th grader at the time, went out for recess around noon, when a group of students began to chase him around the school yard, according to the complaint.

Despite efforts to flee and locate a teacher or security guard, the boy was unable to find an authority figure, as no school staff were present in the yard, the lawsuit alleges.

Eventually, the boy was surrounded and “one assailant pushed him onto the ground and yelled anti-Semitic and anti-Israel slurs,” court filings allege. One of the students also kicked the boy three times, twice in the leg and once in the face, the complaint alleges

Although the boy was able to protect his groin, the complaint says that he was unable to shield his face or leg.

After his attackers ceased the beating, the boy was not approached by any teachers, staff or security, according to the complaint.

The boy, who is Jewish, believes he was targeted as he’d previously mentioned he wanted to join the Israel Defense Forces when questioned in class about future careers, as reported by the New York Post.

School staff remained unaware of the situation until the boy himself told a teacher, who subsequently informed the school principal, court documents claim.

Despite eventually learning of the assault, the complaint alleges that “school employees did not seek medical attention for [the boy]” Employees at I.S. 2 also failed to immediately call or notify the victim’s parents about the assault, according to the filing.

The complaint goes on to allege that an unnamed school official placed the child on a New York City Transit Authority bus without the parents’ permission and without them knowing of the incident.

In that time aboard the bus, the court filing suggests the boy “experienced extreme fear, nervousness, anxiety and severe emotional distress.”

Court documents state that following the incident, “[the boy] never returned to the middle school.” In fact, the trauma endured by the family led them to move to New Jersey, as shared in the report by the New York Post.

The lawsuit against the city and DOE was filed in state Supreme Court, St. George. Although seeking unspecified damages, the complaint indicates that the damages sought “exceeds the jurisdictional limits of all lower courts which otherwise would have jurisdiction.”

“Antisemitism in public schools has been a real issue since October 7th and the aftermath of the events of October 7th,” Anna Livshits, an attorney for the plaintiff, said.

“It’s just very troubling that you have not only an incident where such a young boy was targeted on the basis of his religion or his ethnicity, but you also had a situation where the school administrators, you know, based on the boy’s allegations, really failed to respond appropriately after he was attacked by other kids,” Livshits added. “I think while schoolyard bullying incidents happen, I think what makes the situation different is that there was nobody in the schoolyard whatsoever to help him escape these kids that were going after him. And then, even when the school did find out about the incident, all the administration did was put him on a city bus and have him go home on his own and didn’t even notify the mom, according to what was reported.”

“Hate has no place in New York City Public Schools, and all students and staff deserve to be safe at school and in their communities,” Jenna Lyle, a DOE spokeswoman said. “We will review the lawsuit when we receive it.”

https://www.silive.com/news/2024/10/mom-sues-nyc-doe-alleging-boy-beaten-in-antisemitic-attack-at-staten-island-school.html

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