Education Law Case Study: Financial compensation for child subjected to race discrimination and peer on peer abuse at an independent school

Who did we act for?

We acted for Rufus, a 13 year old boy of mixed ethnic background, and his parents.

Rufus’ ethnic background was the subject of a racial slur sent by a fellow male pupil on social media.  Rufus was most upset by this and asked the other pupil for an apology.

The offensive message had been circulated amongst a large group of peers, who encouraged the two boys to enter a fight.  Although no fight took place, Rufus admitted to having felt so provoked that he gently pushed the other boy.  Subsequently, both boys were sanctioned to a weekend detention.  No account was taken by the Headteacher for the fact that the incident had been caused by a racially motivated social media post against Rufus.

Rufus’ parents had, even prior to this incident, been concerned that the school did not deal with racially motivated incidents adequately. This was because Rufus’ older brother had also been subjected to racial slurs for which the culprit had received either no or inadequate sanctions.

Rufus was later sought out by another child, who hit him.  The perpetrator was white and Rufus felt that the attack was racially motivated.   Rufus was seriously injured in the face and was very distressed by the incident which occurred at lunchtime.

Although Rufus was seen by the school nurse, he was sent to his classroom for his afternoon lessons.  After Rufus returned home from school, his parents were immediately alerted to his injury and contacted the school. The school who had made no efforts to contact them during the course of the afternoon.

The parents reported the incident to the police; the school having failed to do so.  The perpetrator was subsequently excluded but this happened belatedly, that is, only after the parents had expressed their extreme dissatisfaction to the school.  The parents felt that, had they not taken the action they did, the perpetrator would have remained at the school . The parents felt the school’s failure to properly sanction the perpetrator was because she was white.  Again, no account was taken by the school of the fact that the incident was racially motivated against Rufus.

The parents withdrew Rufus from the school as they felt that the school could not keep him safe, nor could it adequately address allegations of racism.

What did we do?

We advised Rufus’ parents on potential claims of race discrimination and failures of the school to safeguard Rufus against risk of harm.  We also advised the parents were entitled to reclaim some of the fees which they had paid to the school. Furthermore, Rufus was entitled to compensation for the injury he had suffered and the upset he felt.

What was the outcome?

We supported Rufus’ parents to navigate the school’s complaints procedure and, in tandem, managed to negotiate a substantial financial  settlement sum with the school’s solicitors, thereby avoiding the need for the family to endure long and costly court proceedings.