Student beaten in Iroquois High School bathroom files suit against JCPS, 4 alleged attackers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A new lawsuit claims it's routine for students to be attacked and robbed in the restrooms at Iroquois High School.

Cameron Skaggs, who was found bleeding and unconscious on the floor of a school bathroom in November, claims in the lawsuit that staff knew the restrooms were dangerous at Iroquois and didn't do enough to keep kids safe.

He suffered a broken jaw after being assaulted by four students for no known reason.

"I walked in there, I did my business, and right as soon as I got done, I heard the chain that holds the door open get rattled and heard them kicking open stall doors," Skaggs said. "So I tried to leave, and the next thing I know, I felt one hit to the back of my skull, and I was out. The next thing I knew — blurred vision waking up in an ambulance."

He remembers realizing how badly he had been hurt.

"They busted my lip open," Skaggs said. "I don't know what they busted open, but it caused a lot of blood, and if I was there from what they said was just another minute, I could have been dead. I could've died in a dirty, dingy bathroom."

IMAGES | Cameron Skaggs suffered a broken jaw, when was attacked at Iroquois High School

This is the first time Skaggs has spoken publicly about the attack. He recently turned 18 and is filing a lawsuit against Jefferson County Public Schools, current and former administrators at Iroquois as well as security staff and the four students charged with his assault. One of them is an adult and has been identified as 18-year-old Damon Simmons Jr.

Skaggs said while his attack was the worst, it is far from the only one that happened at the school. The suit claims negligence and battery by JCPS, saying it was routine for students to lurk outside restrooms and wait for a vulnerable person to rob.

Attorney Teddy Gordon said the attack crossed the line.

"This is not tolerable," he said. "This should never never happen to any student. If we need 10 security guards, we get 10 security guards so no one has to walk through hell and back just to get a public education."

Skaggs was the latest in a series of high-profile violent incidents from last fall at the south Louisville school. A fight between a student and teacher in the middle of class at Iroquois high went viral online, and in a different incident, former principal Clay Holbrook was injured while trying to break up a fight among students.

Holbrook volunteered for a reassignment to the Phoenix School of Discovery days after Skaggs was found beaten. JCPS assigned Rob Fulk to the job in December. A JCPS spokespersons said it was against district policy to comment on an active lawsuit.

Skaggs has not returned to Iroquois. He enrolled in home hospital instruction where a teacher comes to his house for lessons.

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