After student shoved by bully suffers collapsed lung, DMPS settles lawsuit for $30,000

William Morris, Des Moines Register
·2 min read
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A couple who sued Des Moines Public Schools for failing to prevent their son's bullying have settled their case for $30,000.

Raven Lee and Robert Gullion filed their lawsuit in September, saying their son, then a student at Phillips Elementary, was repeatedly bullied by a classmate, culminating in his being shoved against playground equipment in October 2021 hard enough to suffer a collapsed lung and other serious internal injuries. Teachers at the school allegedly failed to take steps to prevent the ongoing bullying, and downplayed the severity of their son's injuries.

Attorneys for Des Moines Public Schools denied the allegations, and the case was set for trial in August 2025. But on Feb. 21, the couple filed to permanently dismiss the suit. District spokesman Phil Roeder confirmed the lawsuit was settled for $30,000, paid by the district's insurer. An attorney for the family declined to comment.

Lee and Gullion's suit was one of several recent cases accusing local school districts of failing to protect students from violence. Another lawsuit filed in September alleges DMPS staff failed to intervene to stop a fight outside Hoover High School in 2022 that resulted in a student being stabbed in the abdomen.

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More recently, the parents of a Southeast Polk student sued that district in January, alleging staff at Clay Elementary School failed to put a stop to repeated verbal and physical homophobic bullying against their son. Another lawsuit, filed Feb. 14 against Southeast Polk Junior High School, claims that staff allowed severe and pervasive bullying of a student with learning disabilities, including threats to kill her.

And Des Moines Public Schools is now facing two lawsuits filed in February, one by a student injured in a drive-by shooting outside East High School in 2022, another by the mother of a student killed in the attack. Those suits allege the district failed to respond to months of escalating violence, and that the school's security plans and procedures were wholly inadequate to keep students safe.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines Public Schools settles bullying lawsuit for $30,000