A former special education assistant is suing the Salem-Keizer School District, claiming school administrators knowingly exposed her to a dangerous work environment where she was repeatedly assaulted by students. Lauren Eriksen sustained multiple concussions and a bite so deep it caused lasting nerve damage while working last school year at West Salem High School, according to her complaint filed Sept. 27 in Marion County Circuit Court. “Students bit, hit, and punched Ms. Eriksen. She had urine-soaked clothes thrown at her. Students pulled her hair and spit in her face. Students swore at her and pushed and threw objects at her, such as pencils, iPads, chairs, and desks. One student cleared off a table with glass on it and shattered glass all over the floor,” the suit claims. Eriksen is seeking an unspecified sum of money and a court order forcing the school district to maintain safe working conditions for employees and students. The suit names the school district, as well as three West administrators: Principal Carlos Ruiz, and Assistant Principals Wendy Stradley and Josh Thorp. Eriksen’s attorneys, Maria Witt and Matthew Ellis, declined to answer questions about the suit. Aaron Harada, district spokesman, also declined to comment on specific allegations in the suit. The school district will also represent the administrators in the suit, he said. The district has faced repeated criticism from employees over the growing problem of students violently assaulting employees. Last school year, ​​employees reported 1,356 injuries caused by students, with 146 resulting in time lost from work, Harada said.  That’s up substantially from the 2018-19 school year, when district employees reported 580 student-caused injuries. That was the first year the district tracked such injuries. The school district employs about 5,000 people and runs 65 schools. Better training and communication to prevent injury from assaultive students was a key focus of contract negotiations with employee unions last year. Eriksen’s complaint covers a year she spent as an assistant in one of West’s special education classrooms. She claims one older, large student in the class had repeated violent outbursts in April. That led up to a day where he was “running around the classroom, screaming and throwing objects,” the suit claims. The student charged her, slamming her into the classroom door. Eriksen was “terrified” and asked over her school radio for someone to call 911. She claims Thorp asked for more information over the radio, while Stradley said to cancel the 911 call. District protocol required her and the classroom teacher to remain in the classroom with the violent student because they could not leave other students alone. The student then “crouched down low, like a football player.” “He hit them in a crouched position and then lifted up, sending them flying into the air. The DLC teacher’s head slammed into the wall. Ms. Eriksen went crashing into a stationary bike and walker. The campus safety member was knocked over as well,” the suit claims. An administrator took Eriksen to urgent care. She was diagnosed with a head injury and concussion, nausea, neck muscle strain, neck and back muscle spasms, and lumbar muscle strain. She claims school administrators never debriefed her after the incident, the results of a district investigation weren’t shared, and she never received an apology or explanation for the 911 call being canceled. Eriksen resigned from her position in August, saying the school district’s actions forced her to quit to keep herself safe. She is seeking an unspecified amount in lost wages and benefits. She was rehired as a substitute employee for the district in September, Harada said. A group of district employees in March 2023 filed a notice they intended to sue over the issue of assaults by students, and the district employees in a union survey reported they faced frequent violent attacks. Last fall, Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration evaluated the district and found local schools reported a much higher rate of employee injury than schools in Oregon or nationally. The OSHA review also said school districts face at times contradictory sets of laws and rules. Schools are required by federal law to provide students with disabilities with a free, appropriate public education. State and federal rules require students to be placed in the least restrictive environment possible. That at times comes into conflict with state workplace safety laws, the review said. Since the OSHA review, Harada said the district has added an 8-day training for new staff supporting special programs that covers de-escalation, personal protective equipment and incident management. The district has also created a team to consult with schools when students are repeatedly struggling with behavior, an acute health and safety consultation process and a better injury reporting and monitoring system. The district has also opened new facilities intended to give more options for students struggling with behavior and mental health, including a day treatment center that opened in June, and a second Behavior Intervention Center. Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. 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