3 days ago
US teen to receive $1m after suing over bullying campaign
The teen endured a months-long campaign of verbal harassment and cruel rumours as well as a petition spreading around the school entitled 'End the Life of Eleri Irons'
A California student who was subjected to a relentless, months-long bullying campaign that included death threats has won $1m after successful suing her former school.
An appeals court has upheld a previous verdict ordering a Los Angeles County school district to make the enormous payout to Eleri Irons.
Ms Irons, who is now 21, had been bullied by her peers and dismissed by teachers who claimed she was just experiencing trouble with young love.
El Segundo Unified School District in Los Angeles County had appealed a 2022 court decision that found the district had been negligent in protecting Ms Irons from 'bullying, tormenting, and aggression.'
Irons was a 13-year-old student at El Segundo Middle School when she was targeted by other teens between November 2017 and June 2018.
A lawsuit filed in 2019 stated she had 'suffered PTSD, cut herself and sought refuge in the school nurse's office nearly every lunch break' as a result of the intense bullying.
Eleri Irons (centre) pictured with attorney Christa Ramey (left) and co-counsel Siannah Collado
News in 90 Seconds - June 18th
Irons was called 'a liar, whore, cheater and boyfriend-stealer, after her friendship with two other classmates ended because of a love triangle.
Her tormenters 'flipped her off and made fun of her in the hallways, and even slapped her in the face. They screamed at her in person and harassed her online'.
The bullying spiralled after the two girls allegedly brought in a third teen which led to a months-long campaign of verbal harassment and cruel rumours as well as a petition spreading around the school entitled 'End the Life of Eleri Irons'.
When teachers learned about the petition, school officials were made aware of the cruel attacks but failed to respond to the claims.
Irons' parents even approached the school's principal, who, it is claimed, lied about calling police as soon as she learned of the death threat in June 2018.
'Despite being aware of the threats, school officials failed to take meaningful action, failed to notify her parents, and failed to follow their own anti-bullying policies,' lawyers said.
Her attorneys from the ACTS Law said that instead of 'taking accountability and supporting this young woman's recovery, the district chose to spend taxpayer money fighting her in court for years. That's not leadership. That's cowardice'.
'This ruling confirms what the jury already knew,' attorney Christa Ramey said after the ruling, 'Eleri was failed at every level by the very people who were supposed to protect her.'
Ramey denounced the school district's appeal as it prolonged the case, forcing the young woman to continue reliving 'one of the most traumatic periods of her life.'
Irons' parents confronted the alleged bullying, but school officials dismissed the concerns 'as drama over a teen love triangle,' Ramey told the LA Times in 2022.
A Los Angeles jury found that the school district failed to safeguard Irons from three bullies who were the leaders of the campaign.
The three bullies were suspended for their bullying.
The school district's appeal focused on several issues, claiming Irons failed to prove any of her injuries and that it wasn't responsible for how employees handled the issue.
The school's lawyers also cited a state government code that removes public employees from all liability, according to Patch.
The district was ordered to pay Irons $1million in damages, and on Monday, the California Court of Appeal upheld that decision after ESUSD appealed the decision.
The payout includes $700,000 for past noneconomic damages and $300,000 for future noneconomic damages, according to the ruling.
In 2018, Irons told Today she had forgiven the bullies.
'I always wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt because I (once) valued their friendship. They didn't get the intervention they needed either. The school failed me and them.'
In 2022 Irons said she was actually 'thankful' in the wake of her ordeal, as she hopes it means students will not encounter the same obstacles she did when she was bullied.
'I am so thankful that I have been able to share my experience and to actually be taken seriously so that the next time a child asks for help, the school will address it the way they should have for me,' she said.
Irons has since gone on to attend the University of San Diego, where she is currently a junior history major.
In March, she presented research at the Phi Alpha Theta Southern California Regional Conference, hosted by California State University.
