Ranjan
PITTSBURGH – Pittsburgh Public School District is possibly guilty of creating a danger that led to a Brashear High student being bullied, attacked and left with a traumatic injury.
Federal judge Nicholas Ranjan on Friday allowed Ny’Hier Williams’ lawsuit to continue, rejecting calls by PPSD to dismiss both counts of it. He dismissed a claim alleging Williams’ injuries were the result of policy choices by the district but said a jury could find the district liable for a “state-created danger.”
Williams says he was savagely beaten and suffered a major traumatic brain injury on Jan. 21, 2022, alleging the defendants were aware of previous unprovoked attacks on him 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.
State-created danger claims routinely fail in Pennsylvania, where they face a tough hurdle to clear. Williams will have to show harm to him was foreseeable, the district’s actions shock the conscience and school officials left him in more trouble than if they had done nothing.
“The Court finds that, at a minimum, Ny’Hier has presented evidence of deliberate indifference by school officials,” Ranjan wrote.
“Brashear officials had over a month from the third fight to the fourth to deliberate on how to protect Ny’Hier… Further, Brashear administrators acknowledged the danger of Quincey (Garland) and Ny’Hier being near each other from their history of fights before the January assault.
“Brashear then knowingly disregarded that danger by requiring Ms. Williams to return her son under a false promise of meaningful safety precautions. Based on these facts, a reasonable jury could find that the Brashear administrations’ actions shock the conscience.”
Williams and Garland got into four fights during Williams’ junior year. Two took place in September 2021, with the first being caught on camera which showed Garland repeatedly punching Williams in the face until school officials intervened.
In December, they fought in a bathroom. Video showed Garland throwing Williams to the ground, kicking and punching him and throwing him into a bathroom stall. Both students were suspended, though Garland’s was eight days longer.
Williams’ mother told the school she did not feel her son was safe there. Attempts to transfer Garland to another school were unsuccessful, and his return surprised staff who thought he’d moved to another school.
Williams’ mother picked him up immediately upon learning Garland was back and refused to let him return until she was told he’d be safe. She was placated with the promise of a safety plan, but as Ranjan wrote, “There was no safety plan.” Garland signed a “student contract” to not have contact with Williams.
The very day Williams’ returned, the two started fighting. Video “is disturbing,” Ranjan said, as Williams was knocked unconscious and had to be taken to Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital.
