Surveillance video shows a Georgia teen falling over during a bus ride in September 2016, and it proves school officials neglected her, says her family. Now they’re suing.
“There is absolutely no reason the wheelchair should have tipped over, but when it did, somebody did not come to help her,” attorney Minkah Merritt told Fox 19 in a Sunday report. He represents the girl’s family in a $14 million lawsuit against the Fulton County School System.
The girl, a 16-year-old with cerebral palsy, fell over during a sharp left turn, they said. It allegedly took an entire three minutes for school employees to help.
“Her face is bleeding,” said a woman on tape.
Plaintiffs say she shouldn’t have even tipped over in the first place. Officials should’ve secured her better. Merritt suggested that a staff member behind the girl was looking down at a cell phone.
“Seeing my daughter laying there on the floor, with no one coming to her rescue, I was very disgusted when I saw the tape,” said mother April Moore. She claimed her daughter suffered scars to her face.
Moore no longer trusts district employees to get the job done, and instead checks the restraints herself when her daughter gets on the school bus. In addition to millions in damages, this lawsuit is pushing for a third-party to review the bus safety protocol.
LawNewz.com reached out to the Fulton County School System, but spokeswoman Susan Hale said they couldn’t comment because of this pending litigation.
Update – Aug 6, 8:01 p.m.: The school district responded to our request for comment.
[Screengrab via Fox 19]
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