PITTSBURGH - A Brashear High student who says he was bullied, including an attack that led to a traumatic injury, has sued the Pittsburgh Public School District.
Pittsburgh student Ny’Hier Williams filed a lawsuit Dec. 19 against the City of Pittsburgh Public School District and the City of Pittsburgh Board of Public Education, alleging that they failed to protect him from a brutal assault by a fellow student. The incident took place on January 21, 2022, at Brashear High School, where Williams says he was savagely beaten and suffered a major traumatic brain injury.
The complaint states that the defendants were aware of previous unprovoked attacks on Williams by the same assailant but took inadequate steps to ensure his safety. Despite reassurances given to Williams' mother, Chata Williams, about her son's safety at school, he was assaulted upon his return.
Williams says he is seeking justice for the broken promises and deliberate indifference shown towards his safety by the defendants. The case has been filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
"Defendants’ promises that Ny’Hier would be kept safe were broken, and Defendants consciously disregarded a great risk of harm to Ny’Hier, acted with deliberate indifference to Ny’Hier’s rights and safety, and their conduct shocks the conscience," the suit says. "Defendants must be held liable."
Larry Bendesky and other attorneys from Saltz Mongeluzzi represent the plaintiff.