A student’s family has sued Richmond Community Schools, the City of Richmond and the child’s school after reporting four separate bullying incidents that they say included severe physical injuries and sexual assault.
Lawyers representing the parents and their minor daughter filed the lawsuit June 23 in Wayne County Superior Court 1 against Dennis Middle School, RCS and the city, which now provides school resource officers for RCS.
The student accuses all defendants of negligence. Noting their past and future medical expenses, the parents allege the loss of “services and society” of their daughter as a result of her injuries. All four incidents occurred during school hours and on school property, they say.
Western Wayne News is not currently naming the plaintiffs because the allegations include harassment and sexual assault.
WWN contacted RCS officials and Ron Cross, who serves as attorney for RCS, for comment. Cross said he typically advises his clients not to comment on matters of pending litigation. He said the school district’s next steps will involve forwarding the matter to the RCS liability insurer working through their local agent.
WWN also contacted the City of Richmond’s law department, but had not received a response before press time.
Katherine Piscione, an attorney for Waldron Tate Land LLC of Indianapolis, filed the family’s lawsuit.
According to the document, the girl had suffered from bullying for approximately two years at Dennis, and school officials have previously worked with the family to find solutions. During the 2024-25 school year, the girl reported to school officials that a group of students bullied her and made her feel unsafe.
Despite her parents’ repeated follow-up and meeting requests, including a request for an individualized education program, the defendants took no steps to remedy the bullying, the complaint alleges.
While in the school’s restroom last fall, the girl was pushed into the wall and suffered back injuries, the suit said. Four days later, she was attacked on a bus by the same students, which included being pushed into the bus window, punched in the head and having her hair pulled.
Emergency room staff determined she needed to wear a neck brace for at least a week during recovery. She also went to a spine specialist to determine if she had received long-term damage. The second incident was caught on school bus video surveillance, the document said.
During the same time period, the girl was twice approached from behind when getting on the school bus to go home and was grabbed in a sexual manner without her permission, the suit said. The parents allege that school and city officials didn’t report the third or fourth incidents to them.
The suit said the defendants took no steps to punish or deter the students involved in the four incidents, even though they were aware of the students’ propensity for bullying and violent behavior. Neither RCS nor the city assisted the girl after any of those incidents, the document said, and she continues to experience physical, emotional and mental distress.
According to the summons, all three parties have 23 days to respond, starting the day after receiving the summons by certified mail.
A version of this article appeared in the July 2 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.