Swastika ‘carved’ into back of autistic Jewish student, suit says. Settlement reached
A Jewish student, who’s nonverbal and autistic, came home from his high school last year with a swastika “physically carved” into his skin, a civil rights complaint filed on his behalf says.
The hate symbol was scratched into the then-17-year-old’s back at Clark High School in Las Vegas, according to The Lawfare Project, a legal nonprofit that defends the rights of Jewish individuals and represented his case.
After the teen’s mother found the swastika on her son on March 9, 2023, he was removed from the school, The Lawfare Project said in December, when the nonprofit announced the filing of the complaint with the Nevada Department of Education.
“Whoever committed this horrible act is still out there,” attorney Ziporah Reich, The Lawfare Project’s litigation director, told McClatchy News on June 21.
The case was filed against the Clark County School District and accused the district of not protecting the student or providing him with the proper special education he was supposed to receive under state and federal law.
Now, a settlement agreement has been reached with the school district that will provide financial compensation and educational services for the student, The Lawfare Project announced in a June 20 news release.
“No child should live in fear because of an unsafe educational environment,” Brooke Goldstein, the nonprofit’s founder and executive director, said in a statement. “This abhorrent and disgusting attack on our client should have never happened, and moving forward, we hope that the Clark County School District will ensure the safety of all their Jewish students.”
The school district didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on June 21.
‘A hate crime occurred’
The settlement was fully finalized last week, Reich told McClatchy News.
It involves “significant monetary compensation” that allows for the student, who is now 18, to receive the education he didn’t get within the Clark County School District — outside of the district — for the next four years, Reich said. She was unable to disclose the specific settlement details.
The student is eligible to attend school until he’s 22, Reich noted. She said she believes “we’ve gotten justice” for the client.
Though Reich is satisfied from a civil litigation standpoint, she added: “Clearly, a hate crime occurred that involves a violent action.”
An investigation into the swastika incident was launched by both local authorities and the FBI, Reich said.
However, the investigation was inadequate and “got nowhere,” according to Reich, leaving other students with disabilities vulnerable to potential attacks.
It was never discovered who hurt the student, Reich said.
“Law enforcement failed the family,” she said.
McClatchy News contacted the FBI’s Las Vegas field office with an inquiry about the investigation and didn’t receive an immediate response on June 21.
Ultimately, Reich in the news release called the settlement agreement “a step in the right direction towards holding CCSD accountable for its failure to ensure a Jewish autistic student’s safety and provide him with the special education he is entitled to under the law.”
Her co-counsel, attorney Hillary Freeman, a special education expert based in New Jersey, and attorney Lori Rogich, who’s based in Nevada, also represented the case and secured the settlement.
This story was originally published June 21, 2024 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Swastika ‘carved’ into back of autistic Jewish student, suit says. Settlement reached."
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