Former student sues Seattle Schools after teacher punched him in the face

Seattle Public Schools faces a lawsuit from a 2018 incident in which a math teacher at Meany Middle School punched an eighth-grader in the face in front of the entire class.

A KUOW investigation found that the district, then led by Superintendent Larry Nyland, gave teacher James Johnson only a five-day suspension for punching the student, and that Johnson had a documented history of abusing students when the district hired him, and previously at Meany.

“This teacher has been a known problem for almost a decade. Prior to that he had been disciplined for similar behavior in another district," said attorney Chris Williams, who represents Zakariah Sheikhibrahim, the former student who was punched.

Now 19, Sheikhibrahim is suing the district in King County Superior Court for damages, including for negligence and for allegedly letting school administrators retaliate against him for getting his teacher in trouble.

In its 2020 reporting, KUOW revealed that Johnson went on to abuse kids after being moved to nearby Washington Middle School. The district fired him in 2021, following reports of abuse at Washington, and Johnson surrendered his teaching certificate.

In court filings, the district denied the retaliation claims, and said it was not aware Johnson had a history of abusing students when it hired him.