RAMSEY, N.J. - A New Jersey school district has agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle a lawsuit by a middle school student who was paralyzed when a known bully punched him in the abdomen.
The settlement between the Ramsey school district and the family of Sawyer Rosenstein, who had complained to the district about being bullied, was worked out over the past two months but not made public until last week.
The family’s lawsuit alleged school officials knew or should have known the boy’s attacker had violent tendencies and failed to comply with a state antibullying law, said the Rosensteins’ attorney, Jeffrey Youngman.
Just three months before being punched, Sawyer, then 12, e-mailed school officials to report he was being bullied and to ask for help.
Sawyer was punched in the abdomen at school on May 16, 2006, dropping him to his knees. The blow had caused a clot in a major artery that supplies blood to his spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down from what his attorney described as an “incredibly rare’’ injury.