MILWAUKEE — A mother is suing Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) after she claims her son, Ethan, an intellectually disabled student, was assaulted at Bay View High School while security personnel failed to intervene.
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Jill Leffler, the mother of the student, alleges that her son was sucker-punched by another student in an incident recorded by surveillance cameras. This occurred in front of staff members hired to maintain student safety.
"As I understand it, the security assistants, as they saw Ethan coming back, one of them took out her personal cell phone and started recording the situation between the two boys and she recorded the entire thing," Leffler said.
Krista LaFave, the attorney representing the Leffler family, provided TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins surveillance footage from the incident that took place last April.
Watch: Mom sues MPS after assault on her intellectually disabled son at Bay View High
The video shows Ethan approaching another student and shoving him. As Ethan bends down to pick something up, the other student punches him in the face. The security assistant recorded the initial incident and later watched the footage with other students. According to court documents, the assistant did not report the incident to school administration.
"There’s a moment there, multiple moments, where the security assistant who is hired and employed by MPS could’ve stopped it, stepped in, told him to go back to class which is in their job description for what they’re supposed to do, and instead of doing that started recording the altercation," LaFave stated.
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"There’s also laughing that’s seen in the video, that shouldn’t be happening when there’s a student they know who is cognitively disabled and probably has no idea what’s happening," LaFave added.
The family reports that Ethan attended his next class while bleeding and later required treatment in the emergency room for a broken jaw that had to be wired shut for four weeks. Leffler expressed the impact of the incident on their family, saying, "I just feel like this is something that they need to be accountable for. And it just did not have to happen."
According to the lawsuit, the security assistant seen on video resigned before MPS could fully investigate her involvement. Another security assistant faced disciplinary action but continues to work for the district, according to LaFave.
On Monday, an MPS spokesperson told TMJ4 News they had not yet received the lawsuit and therefore were unable to provide a comment or statement.
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