The son of former star NFL running back Eric Dickerson is suing a Westlake Village private school, alleging racial harassment, bullying and assault, with a lack of intervention from the school, according to court documents.
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Dickerson, who once played for the Los Angeles Rams and holds several National Football League records, is not named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. His son, a minor, is the plaintiff in the suit, which was filed on Oct. 15 against Oaks Christian School, a transitional kindergarten through 12th-grade school.
According to a complaint, Dickerson’s son, who is Black, was subjected to the repeated use of racial slurs against him in front of his peers, physically assaulted and repeatedly harassed by another student who was known to carry a knife.
Dickerson’s son, who was in sixth grade at the time of the alleged bullying, was targeted repeatedly by a particular student, who was sometimes joined by other students in harassment and use of racial slurs, according to the complaint. The student repeatedly used the N-word, used a name involving the slur and compared Dickerson’s son to a statue of an animal during a school field trip to the zoo, according to the complaint, filed by the law firm representing the family, Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP.
The complaint alleges that the school was aware of the abuse, which was reported to the school by the Dickerson family, and that the school “imposed no meaningful discipline.” The family repeatedly spoke with school officials and suggested interventions, but no measures were taken, according to the complaint.
The complaint also alleges that a teacher accused Dickerson’s son of lying and that the school knew about a video of the child being assaulted by another student during lunchtime and asked the student to not assault him again, without further consequences.
Oaks Christian School officials did not comment on the claims made in the complaint.
“We are aware of the lawsuit. The school disputes the allegations regarding its conduct and will respond through the legal process,” a statement from the school said. “This matter involves minors, and out of respect for the privacy of all students involved, we will not comment on individual students or the specifics of the case.”
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Dickerson’s son ultimately left Oaks Christian to attend a different school, which the complaint calls a “direct result of Oaks Christian’s sustained failure to protect him.”
“Oaks Christian’s conduct, and its refusal to address the racial harassment, bullying, and assault [Dickerson’s son] endured, drove him from the educational community his family had chosen and entrusted with his care, and the emotional and developmental harm he suffered continues to affect him,” according to the complaint.
“We don’t want any other minority to feel scared, bullied, uncomfortable or otherwise harassed, at this school, or any other school,” Robert Glassman, an attorney representing the family, said.
The complaint alleges that the racial harassment and bullying Dickerson’s son experienced is part of a larger racism issue at the school, referencing a separate lawsuit filed against the school by a Black student who attended the school from 2021 to 2024 and a 2020 petition signed by over 8,000 school alumni that described racism at the school.
As a result of the 2020 petition, president and head of school at Oaks Christian, Robert T. Black, “issued a written statement acknowledging Oaks Christian’s failures and committing to meaningful reform”, according to the complaint, and said the school would hire a director of diversity and update policies. The other lawsuit detailed use of racial slurs at the school and students holding a mock slave auction and threats of lynching to the plaintiff in that suit, according to the complaint.
“They were on notice that this was a real, major issue at their school,” he said. “It’s not a coincidence that there is another Black kid who is feeling like he’s being racially harassed and bullied at this school… hopefully it comes to an end with this [lawsuit],” Glassman said.
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