School District Settles Suit on Student Beating
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The Los Angeles Unified School District agreed Friday to pay $15,000 to settle a lawsuit in which a former student claimed he was beaten on the campus of Locke High School as a security guard looked on.
Gerardo Perea, who claimed he suffered eye damage and required surgery after the April 2001 attack, was seeking as much as $600,000 in damages, but agreed to the settlement after a brief hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court, said school district attorney W. Keith Wyatt.
The suit claimed that Perea was beaten by a group of students while a security guard refused to intervene.
School officials said the guard did try to break up the fight and was struck by the plaintiff.
“This case had a nuisance value and nothing more,” Wyatt said.
“We would have paid $15,000 to try it, win or lose. That’s why we settled it.”
Neither Perea nor his attorney could be reached for comment.
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