Child’s family sues Glendale Unified School District

The family of a former Rosemont Middle School student filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the Glendale Unified School District after the girl allegedly suffered a traumatic head injury and memory loss after falling on campus in October 2011.

Five weeks into her seventh-grade year, Emily Richardson fell into a brick wall during a physical education class after another student allegedly tripped her, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in June.

The fall, the suit stated, caused Emily to fracture her clavicle, scrape her chest and face, break her braces and endure memory loss.

Shortly after the fall, Emily’s memory would last for approximately five minutes before she would lose all recollection of how she became hurt, according to the document.

Later on, she would frequently misplace items, not remember “events” of her favorite childhood movie or how and when she met new friends at Rosemont, according to the document, which seeks unspecified damages.

Near the end of her seventh-grade school year, the lawsuit states Emily could not recall half of what she learned.

When her parents contacted the district and requested she undergo cognitive testing, Glendale Unified declined to provide services, unless Emily “would agree to waive any and all claims against GUSD,” according to the lawsuit.

Glendale Unified Supt. Dick Sheehan declined to comment on the case, citing active litigation.

The document states Glendale Unified employees failed to supervise students in the designated running area, further creating “an unreasonable risk of harm.”

“The steep hill, the narrowness of the path, the fact that multiple students were there at the same time, and the fact that the path was bordered by the concrete barrier all served to create an inherently dangerous condition on the public property,” the suit states.

In addition, the lawsuit alleges that Emily will need plastic surgery to further rectify the area across her chest where she reportedly sustained a 10-inch scrape.

Gail Richardson, who is an attorney and is representing her daughter along with her co-counsel, Florence Cameron, declined to comment on the case or Emily’s current medical condition.

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Follow Kelly Corrigan on Twitter: @kellymcorrigan.

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