January 24, 2017 — The law firm of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman has reached a settlement of nearly $10 million with Orange Unified School District (OUSD) on behalf of families of children who were injured in the 2014 Anaheim school bus crash.
The settlement was reached on the first day the trial of Taing et al. v. Orange Unified School District was to begin. The case was consolidated from five separate lawsuits filed by the families of five children who were injured in the crash.
“Our firm is pleased to have led the effort to obtain a settlement in the 2014 Anaheim Hills OCUSD school bus crash for nearly $10 million on behalf of five young students who were seriously injured,” said a Baum Hedlund trial attorney, “but we are disappointed it took over two years and the prospect of facing a jury for the school district to finally take responsibility for this tragedy.
The 2014 Anaheim School Bus Crash
On April 24, 2014, students from El Rancho Charter Middle School boarded an Orange Unified school bus operated by bus driver Gerald Douglass Rupple, II.
At approximately 3:37 p.m., Rupple lost control of the bus and drove off the travel lanes at an unreasonable rate of speed before violently colliding with fixed objects. As a direct result of the collision, a number of students sustained severe and permanent injuries, including a shattered spine, bleeding on the brain, and numerous other orthopedic and traumatic injuries.
According to the lawsuits, OUSD ignored warning signs that Rupple had a condition that should have prohibited him from being behind the wheel of a school bus. The families alleged that OUSD was accountable for the accident for allowing a medically unfit driver to operate the school bus and that they failed to appropriately train and supervise their bus drivers, which would have prevented this crash.
Rupple, now 27, is currently facing felony counts for child abuse and endangerment, perjury by declaration, as well as a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury.
The perjury count stems from Rupple’s failure to disclose a medical condition when he was examined by a doctor for his commercial driver's license, or when he was interviewed by school district officials to be a school bus driver. This medical condition causes him to experience dizziness, seizures, and blackouts, according to prosecutors.
According to school personnel records, Rupple was hired when he was just 18 years old and had multiple prior warnings concerning his driving. Just three months prior to the April 24, 2014, Anaheim school bus crash, an Orange Unified employee reported Rupple exhibiting odd and alarming behavior. OUSD asked Rupple to submit to a drug test but did not investigate the matter further.
Rupple’s criminal trial is scheduled to begin in February.
Baum Hedlund's bus accident attorneys represented the Singh and Larosa families in their lawsuits.
“This case shows just how important it is for school districts to be careful and thorough when vetting potential school bus drivers,” said one of the attorneys for the Singh and Larosa families. “Orange Unified should have known that this driver had a condition that threatened the safety of school children. They were ultimately responsible for putting a very young, very dangerous, and unfit driver behind the wheel.”
“Our clients suffered long-lasting physical and emotional injuries as a result of this crash. With this settlement, we hope these families can receive the closure they need to focus on healing and restoring their lives.”
About Baum Hedlund
The law firm of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman has a long history of litigating bus accident cases. Over the past 25 years, the firm has handled more than 90 bus crash cases across the United States and around the world on behalf of bus passengers, their families, and pedestrians hit by buses.