Mother Files Lawsuit After Violent Bullying Incident Leaves her 12-Year-Old Son Injured

A mother filed a lawsuit against Green Dot Public Schools when her son suffered what she says is a permanent brain injury after a 2018 violent bullying incident at a Playa Vista school.

The incident was caught on school surveillance cameras and show what one mother described as a 14-year-old student choking her 12-year-old son just after school was out.

The 12-year-old boy's attorney says the surveillance footage is a key factor in proving that the school failed to take the necessary steps to protect the student.

The boy's attorney says that video is key in showing the school failed to protect the 12 year old.

"He's not the same anymore, at all," said the mother. "Everyday is has been a daily struggle."

The surveillance footage shows the young boy being held up against a wall, as other students huddle around the two at the wall.

An adult who appears to work at the school is seen walking by, she stops, glances at the group and continues walking.

Footage then shows a group of students help him into the hallway.

Eventually, who the mother describes as school employees, help the young boy into the office where he is placed on the ground.

His mother says he suffered several seizures while laying on the ground.

"I get there and he's still laid out on the ground, black and blue and no one is there," the boy's mother says. She says no one called 911 until after she arrived, which was about 30 minutes after the confrontation occurred outside.

The mother claims no one told her what had happened to her son before he had the seizures.

"We're hearing from other students while we're there like 'oh he was choked out,' someone found a pressure point until he blacked out.

This incident happened back in January 2018, and the mother says her son has struggled since then. Doctors, she says, just recently found out that he is suffering from permanent brain and spinal injuries.

Now she's suing green dot public schools which runs the animo westside charter middle school campus.

"The larger picture here is that school districts and schools have a duty to protect," said Ben Meiselas, the child's attorney.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, claims negligence in supervision - and infliction of emotional distress.

Green dot schools responded to NBC4 on Tuesday saying it takes school safety seriously -- but will not comment on the lawsuit since it has not been served any documents.

As for the boy's injuries, his mother says her son suffers learning, social and sleep problems stemming from the on-camera incident.

She says she declined to press charges against that older boy in the video , in the days following the incident because she says, at the time, she had not seen this video.

She hoped the school would expel the older boy, but she says that has not happened.