Lawsuit: Portland, OR high school staff 'stood by and watched' as teen daughter mercilessly beaten by older student

PORTLAND, OR - Oregon Live reports that the mother of a student struck 80 times as school staff watched and did nothing has filed a $2 million lawsuit against the Portland Public Schools.

Lanneette Kali filed the lawsuit on behalf of her daughter, Dania Kali, who was a freshman at Roosevelt High School. Dania was repeatedly assaulted by a senior female, reportedly 80 times in less than a minute as school employees “stood by and watched.” 

The suit says the assailant kicked, hit, grabbed, and slapped Dania in a school hallway, with school staff “declining to intervene.” The assault was motivated because the assailant didn’t like Dania’s expression as she walked by, the suit says. The lawsuit says the Portland Public Schools displayed “incompetence and apathy.” 

Earlier this year, Lannette Kali shared a video of the incident with Oregon Live that another student posted to Snapchat. The video, titled “Just another normal day at velt,” shows the beating going on for some time until one school employee finally intervened. Because the family filed a lawsuit, they can now get a copy of the school surveillance video that captured the incident from several angles. 

The suit says the thrashing ended when “one school employee finally entered the scene and pulled the attacker off Dania.” No medical attention was offered to the victim until her mother arrived at the school and drove her to urgent care. In addition, the suit alleges that Lannette Kali “was rebuffed when she made attempts to gain minimal information from the school so she could better protect her daughter in the future.” 

Kali told Oregon Live in April that school officials refused to give her the suspect's name. She also told the outlet that her daughter was “caught off guard” by the attack and didn’t know the attacker's name. The Portland Police Bureau also told her that the school district would not provide them with video of the incident or the student’s identity. Oregon Live reached out to the police department at the time, which declined to comment about any specifics of the case. 

School district spokesperson Valerie Feder told Oregon Live in April that the district doesn’t share names of students involved in bullying or assaults and said police need to file subpoenas for surveillance videos. 

It is unknown if the school district disciplined the attacker because it refused to share that information with the Kali family or Oregon Live. 

After the lawsuit was filed, Oregon Live again contacted the school district for comment; however, they said they do not comment on pending litigation. 

According to the lawsuit, Dania Kali received two black eyes, a swollen nose, headaches, vision problems, nausea, and a concussion. Lannette Kali said her daughter missed nine days of school and several half-days and was unable to read or write for about two weeks afterward. She also had trouble concentrating. 

The lawsuit contends the school district refused to make accommodations for the teen’s disabilities after the assault and gave her failing grades in most of her classes. As a result, she was forced to attend four weeks of summer school. 

Jacob  Johnstun, the family’s attorney, told Oregon Live that Dania’s recovery is ongoing, and only last week, a head injury clinic recommended one year of therapy to help her with dizziness and balance issues. 

The suit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court.