A Portland high school staff member is accused of failing to intervene in an altercation involving two female students attacking another female student, according to a lawsuit.
The victim’s mother, Rahel Fessehazion, 50, filed the suit against the Portland Public Schools district in a Multnomah County Circuit Court on Friday “for the alleged physical and emotional injuries inflicted on her daughter, as well as for the school employee’s alleged negligence,”Video footage of the incident, which took place at Grant High School in January of this year, was provided to the Oregon-based outlet from Fessehazion’s lawyers.
L.S. then covers her face with her hoodie while on her knees as the two attackers repeatedly punch and strike the victim in the head and upper body. Some bystanders are seen watching the assault, with one student appearing to record it. Although the video footage blurs the faces of all students, the suit notes two individuals who attacked the victim are black females and the staff member who did not intervene is a white male — he is the only individual whose face is not blurred out. The suit also notes that the victim is a black student.
Fessehazion’s daughter sought medical assistance after the attack, receiving a contusion to her head, swollen nasal bridge, muscle strains to her head and neck, and shoulder pain that has not entirely healed. L.S. is a varsity athlete but experienced difficulties playing her sport due to her nagging shoulder injury.