Three former students of a Pennsylvania high school were ordered to pay $95,000 to a former classmate who they injured in a beating in 2011.
The ruling followed a decision earlier this year not to hold the Allentown School District responsible for the attack, according to mcall.com.
The school district may still face court scrutiny after a lawyer for the victim in the attack said his client may appeal the ruling on the district’s responsibility. The lawyer, Michael J. Brooks, also said he is working on a separate lawsuit that accuses the school of negligence in a different attack against a student in 2014.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry S. Perkin found the three former Allen High School students responsible for the injuries to the victim, Onesimus Gayemen, on Monday.
The plaintiffs in the case, Shawndell Cannon, Gregory Goodin and Jahmeen Quick, will be jointly responsible for paying Gayemen $75,000 in compensatory damages and $15,000 in punitive damages.
Gayemen suffered a broken jaw and a concussion from the attack and was later hospitalized for psychological treatment.
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Judge Perkin, however, rejected the argument that the district should have taken steps to prevent the beating.
“In general, school districts are not responsible for injuries to a student by another student,” Perkin said in his decision.
Gayemen’s lawyers had argued that because the attackers had known gang affiliations, the district should have been aware an attack was coming.
Allentown School Board President David Zimmerman recently ordered a review of district security procedures after an Oct. 25 brawl that led to charges against twelve high school students.
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