Two special education students in Mount Ephraim filed the suit following months of allegedly being tormented
A judge approved a $50,000 settlement in a case involving a South Jersey school district sued for allegedly not preventing two students from being bullied. A South Jersey school district has agreed to settle a bullying lawsuit for $50,000.
Two special education students alleged the Mount Ephraim district in Camden County didn't do enough to stop them for being tormented by other pupils in during separate school years.
News of the November settlement was first reported by NJ Civil Settlements, which provides partial list of settlements paid by New Jersey government agencies and their insurers to those who have sued them.
A group of students, "mostly all of whom are female," allegedly consistently mocked the appearance and disabilities of a fifth-grader, according to court papers. The student was also "kicked, pushed and stomped on," according to the suit.
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The suit asserts the school's principal didn't stop the tormentors, leading the student's guardian to notify police. The child was eventually removed from the school and received home schooling at a public library before transferring to another district. Mount Ephraim officials also declined to pay all but a small poron of the the cost to transport the student there, the suit alleges.
The other plaintiff was allegedly consistently verbal harassed during the 2008-09 school year. In separate incidents, the student was thrown off a bicycle and punched in the face, court papers say. The harassment continued even after the superintendent was notified, the suit says.
Court papers didn't say which of the districts' two schools the students attended.
Camden County Superior Court Judge Louis R. Meloni approved the settlement in November, NJ Civil Settlements said.
The Mount Laurel law firm of Costello & Mains, P.C. will receive nearly half the payout.
Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.