A Pennsauken educator "violently pulled" the student out of a fight.
PENNSAUKEN TWP. -- The parents of a seventh-grade student are suing the township school district over repeated incidents of bullying that ended with a broken leg -- allegedly at the hands of a district educator.
The lawsuit filed by Lauren and Vincent Brown, which was first reported by the website NJ Civil Settlements, seeks at least $100,000 in damages after the couple's son identified only as Z.B. in court documents suffered the leg injury and multiple ensuing surgeries.
However, William S. Donio, of the Atlantic City law firm Cooper Levenson, is representing the school district and said Wednesday that the defendants "absolutely dispute" the version of events contained in the law suit.
According to the suit filed in Sept. 2015, Z.B. was the victim of repeated bullying by various fellow students starting in the fourth grade. He was allegedly punched, threatened and harassed on his bus. The student's parents made the district aware and Z.B. started using a different bus stop, according to court documents.
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On June 9, 2014, Z.B. was headed to school when another student allegedly started to attack him. A school employee identified as John Del Grippo intervened, according to the lawsuit, which claims the man "violently pulled Z.B. away from the scene and threw Z.B. to the ground."
It was this encounter that left Z.B. with a bone fracture and lingering medical ailments as a result. The lawsuit further claims that the school district failed to teach employees how to properly deal with bullying.
According to the school district's website, a "John Del Grippo" is a math teacher at Phifer Middle School.
"Pennsauken does have a bullying policy that we enforce within full compliance of the law," Donio said, noting that he could not comment further on the pending litigation.
The suit further claims that Z.B. -- who reportedly had a realistic-looking toy gun pointed at him in one of the bullying incidents -- suffered "substantial physical, emotional, developmental, psychological and/or psychiatric harm."
The Browns are being represented by Mount Laurel-based attorney Greg Zeff. According to NJ Civil Settlements, the case remains in the discovery phase and court proceedings have yet to be scheduled.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook.