A school bus aide has filed a lawsuit against the Cliffside Park Board of Education in Bergen County, claiming she was assaulted by a student with a history of violence while the district had no security measures in place to protect her.
The 48-year-old worker, who is from Hudson County, claims in court papers district officials knew the 6-foot, 6-inch, 240-pound student had been violent in the past.
“Defendants knew about prior assaults on the bus, knew about the prior violent propensities and/or acts of the assailant,” according to the the suit filed April 16 in Superior Court of Hudson County.
Despite knowing the student’s alleged history, the school district “did nothing to adequately protect the employee,” the lawsuit says.
Cliffside Park Schools Superintendent Michael Romagnino did not immediately respond on Tuesday to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Court documents state the incident occurred on April 18, 2022, while the woman was strapping in a special education student. Suddenly, the larger student “reached across, grabbed the plaintiff, and shook the plaintiff violently,” the lawsuit says.
The assault caused injuries to the woman’s head, neck and shoulder, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit does not state the age of the alleged attacker or detail the prior alleged assaults.
However, the lawsuit claims the district knew of the assailant’s “special problems,” and of prior assaults that occurred on Cliffside Park school buses.
The suit also names as defendants the parents or legal guardians of the student, claiming they knew he was violent but did nothing to warn the worker “so that she could adequately protect herself or avoid direct contact” with the student.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
