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California school district agrees to pay the ‘largest bullying settlement in the US ’
A California school district has agreed to pay the ‘largest bullying settlement in the US ' following a fatal bullying case from September 2019.
Diego Stolz, a 13-year-old student was fatally beaten at Landmark Middle School in Moreno Valley, California on September 16, 2019. Consequently, due to a filed lawsuit, the California school district has agreed to pay $27 million to the legal guardians of the boy.
According to the filed lawsuit, Diego was sucker-punched in the head by two fellow male students. Then he fell to the ground and hit his head on a concrete pillar causing a massive brain injury which proved to be fatal and led to his death nine days later.
It is also alleged that he was “repeatedly bullied, both verbally and physically,” by the boys identified as J.D. and M.E., during his seventh grade which continued to the eighth grade.
Despite being informed repeatedly by the school teachers and Diego's guardian, the school took no serious step to deter the students from bullying Diego.
Diego's family announced the settlement
On Thursday, the family's law firm sent CNN a statement announcing the settlement, nearly four years since the fatal fight.
In the wrongful death action, which was brought up in 2020, it was claimed that school officials had been made aware that Diego was being tormented in the past, but they "completely disregarded such warnings and did absolutely nothing to stop the bullying." Additionally, the Moreno Valley Unified School District and its workers were accused in the lawsuit of "blatantly ignoring red flags that could have saved Diego's life."
Lead counsel Dave Ring said in a statement, “The family will forever be heartbroken by the death of Diego but they hope this case brings about change in school districts across the country.”
“Schools need to realize that bullying can never be tolerated and that any complaints of bullying and assault must be taken seriously. Diego’s death was preventable if this school had simply prioritized an anti-bullying policy,” he added.
The school district's statement
In a responding statement, school district's lawyer Michael Marlatt, said his client found the settlement a “fair and reasonable amount.”
“We recognized that this was tragic case with challenging legal issues,” said Michael.
“Given the reality of the facts of the case and recent trend of jury verdicts, it made sense to have a resolution in the amount of $27 million,” he added.
The two teenage boys who attacked Diego admitted to charges of involuntary manslaughter.
As reported by CNN affiliate KABC, they spent 47 days in juvenile custody and in 2021 were sentenced to probation followed by being released to the custody of their parents.
