CHICAGO – A family filed a lawsuit Tuesday in behalf of their fourth-grade son against one of his Robert Frost Elementary School classmates, claiming that the student bullied their child for his entire third-grade year.
Matthew and Deveri Del Core have also named the alleged bully’s parents, the school district and the principal of Robert Frost Elementary in the lawsuit.
The Del Cores claim that the alleged bully, named “C.A.” in court documents, attacked their son Joaquin on a weekly basis. Attacks ranged from hitting, punching, kicking, choking and violent threats, NBC Chicago reports.
Despite filing repeated police reports and meeting with school officials several times, the plaintiffs claim the bullying did not stop. In one of those reports, an investigating officer said that the alleged assailant’s parents said he had anger issues, according to the lawsuit.
The family is seeking monetary damages from all of the named defendants.
Deveri Del Core claims that hours after her family filed the complaint, she was terminated from her position as Robert Frost Elementary’s cafeteria contractor.
Officials from the school declined to comment on Del Core’s firing, but defended the school’s policies stating that the district takes bullying prevention very seriously.
The attorney for the Del Core family plans to amend the initial complaint to include a charge of retaliatory discharge against the school for firing Joaquin’s mother.
