JERSEY CITY AND BEYOND – A former Jersey City public high school student has filed a lawsuit against five of his former fellow students and the Board of Education over an alleged beating last fall at Dickinson High School.
An attorney for John Rivera, a former Dickinson High School student, has filed a lawsuit in Hudson County Superior Court alleging that the Board of Education failed to adequately protect Rivera’s safety by having security personnel assigned to the school’s basement. According to the civil complaint, the alleged beating took place in the school’s basement on Oct. 26, 2011. Louis Zayas, Rivera’s attorney, also alleges that at the time of the alleged beating security cameras in the school were inoperable.
The complaint, which was filed on July 3, alleges that Rivera was “severely” beaten by five other students in basement of Dickinson High School and states that he required medical attention, including 12 staples to the head. Following the alleged incident, Rivera allegedly feared another similar incident and transferred to another school outside of Jersey City.
According to the civil complaint, “Dickinson High School [allegedly] had several other assaults and fights on school premises and should have taken reasonable precautions to deter such assaults on school grounds. The cameras in the basement of Dickenson High School were either damaged or rendered inoperable. Had the Board of Education assigned security guards to physically patrol or monitor surveillance cameras in the basement, [Rivera] would not have been attacked, or the attack would have been stopped before the plaintiff was injured as severely as he was.”
An attorney for the school board said through a district spokeswoman that the Board of Education does not comment on pending lawsuits.
Rivera’s five alleged assailants are also named in the suit as co-defendants. Rivera has asked for a jury trial and that any damages be determined by the jury.