Legal Representation for School Negligence in New York

School negligence in New York City can harm students physically, emotionally and psychologically. It can take the form of bullying or cruel and unfair discipline. In the worst case scenarios, school children have committed suicide as a result of bullying.

At Rubenstein & Rynecki, our personal injury attorneys in New York work with parents to protect their children’s rights and bring lawsuits against negligent school administrations. We help you hold schools accountable for failures to stop bullying or for engaging in unfair disciplinary practices.

Learn more about how our New York City school negligence attorneys can help you. Contact us online or call (718) 522-1020 today!

Isolation and Restraints in Schools

According to an article in Time magazine, during the 2009 to 2010 school year, schools restrained or isolated 40,000 children for disciplinary reasons. However, most of the children had physical, developmental, learning or behavioral problems. The Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) reported that in 2009, it found hundreds of cases that alleged abuse and death resulting from using isolation and restraints on children.

One incident in particular involved an investigative reporter who discovered that his daughter had been locked in a closet for hours and not allowed to use the restroom. The school called her parents when his daughter had removed her clothing while in the closet. They found her standing naked in a puddle of urine. It turned out the teacher had put his daughter in the closet every day for the past three months.

Bullying in Schools

A recent example of bullying involved a 13-year old Georgia boy who reported to the school staff that a classmate threatened to kill a teacher with a butcher knife. When the boy’s peers discovered that he “snitched” on his classmate, he became the subject of extreme bullying involving about 15 to 20 students. The boy ended up hanging himself in his closet at home.

Another 2013 bullying incident involved dozens of students who created a diversion in a hallway to prevent a teacher from seeing one girl jump on and hit another. Some of the students filmed the attack. The victim's mother heard about the incident from another parent, not the school. Prior to the attack, the other girl spent a month shoving, pushing, and trying to get the victim to fight. The girl being victimized had asked teachers for help multiple times prior to this particular incident.

If you're in need of a New York City school negligence attorney, contact us online or call (718) 522-1020 to schedule a free consultation today!