A Tucson woman has filed a lawsuit against the Tucson Unified School District alleging teachers and administrators did nothing to protect her middle school-aged son from a hate crime-related attack.
Rasool Abood was attacked by a group of fellow students at Alice Vail Middle School, 5350 E. 16th St., on Nov. 20, 2008, according to a lawsuit filed Sept. 11 in Pima County Superior Court.
The attack was motivated by “bigotry, hate and prejudice against Rasool, arising from the fact that he and his family are Iraqi nationals/refugees,” the lawsuit states.
The boy’s mother, Amna Al Qaisi, alleges in the lawsuit that school officials were aware her son, who was 13 at the time, had been the victim of verbal assaults, physical abuse and threats in the past and yet failed to protect him from future harm despite her pleas.
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Al Qaisi is seeking unspecified damages. Her attorney, David J. Dwyer, did not return a message seeking comment.
Donna Lewis, director of middle schools, was not familiar with the incident, but said the district’s “primary goal is to ensure safe schools for everyone.”
Any kind of assault is “absolutely intolerable,” Lewis said.
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