Milwaukee Public Schools sued after student with disabilities suffered multiple injuries

A lawsuit against Milwaukee Public Schools alleges civil-rights violations of a student with disabilities after injuries left him with a fractured jaw and tooth requiring extensive medical treatment.

Jill Leffler, mother of Ethan Leffler, filed the suit April 18 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

“Leffler’s attorney, Krista LaFave, said the lawsuit aimed to bring accountability for school safety and make her clients as whole as possible because she believed the incident could have been avoided,” writes Alec Johnson for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for the cost of medical treatment, loss of wages for Jill Leffler and pain and suffering for her son.” 

Laughter from safety assistants after punch 

Court documents accuse school safety assistants Helen Neal and Sarina Gidarisingh of negligence during and after an altercation involving Ethan and a group of students. 

Gidarisingh recorded the incident on her phone April 2, 2024, according to the article. 

“Neither of the safety assistants intervened when Ethan’s conversation with another student became intense,” Johnson wrote, noting the student punched Ethan as he was walking away from a group. 

“After the punch, Gidarisingh continued talking with the other students and appearing to laugh at the situation. She showed the video to a student who approached the scene. Neal also watched the video and laughed. Neither of the safety assistants reported the incident to the school, the lawsuit said.” 

The blow caused Ethan to undergo successive surgeries, which “required wiring his mouth shut and getting a tooth extracted,” according to Johnson. 

“He missed school and requires ongoing medical and dental treatment for his injuries.” 

Meanwhile, Jill needed to miss work to care for her injured son as he recovered, according to the lawsuit. 

The beleaguered district has grappled with declining enrollment for many years – falling to 59,200 in the 2023-24 school year, according to the Badger Institute. 

“That’s a 42% drop … since the peak in 1997-98, when the district had 101,300 students enrolled,” the Institute reports. 

Several of the district’s students have also tested positive for lead poisoning in recent months. At least seven schools were affected, causing three of them to close for remediation work.