A lawsuit filed on August 7, 2026 in Los Angeles County Superior Court by a client of Lanier Meyer McBride Blair LLP alleges that the Los Angeles Unified School District failed to protect a student at Edwin Markham Middle School from sexual abuse by physical education teacher Ralph Hastings, who is also named as a defendant. According to the filed lawsuit, the student reported the abuse to the school's principal and a campus security guard with no known response, another teacher saw Hastings close the locker-room door while alone with the student, and the district failed to supervise, investigate, or report him.

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What the complaint alleges

“Specifically, based upon information and belief, … Plaintiff disclosed HASTINGS’s abuse to the MARKHAM principal and to a MARKHAM campus security guard, and no known action was taken in response.”

(Complaint ¶ 25)

“Additionally, another MARKHAM physical education teacher observed HASTINGS close the locker room door while Plaintiff was alone inside with HASTINGS and would be the first to return to the locker room afterward. Based upon information and belief, at least one MARKHAM administrator also received reports of inappropriate conduct concerning HASTINGS.”

(Complaint ¶ 25)

“Other warning signs that were observable “red flags” included, inter alia: HASTINGS’s repeated closing, locking, and chaining of the boys’ locker room door during class time; HASTINGS’s isolation of a single minor student, alone, in the locker room while the remainder of his class was sent to the field; …”

(Complaint ¶ 26)

These are allegations in a pending lawsuit. They have not been proven, and no court has made any findings.

Abused at Edwin Markham Middle School?

If you were a student at Edwin Markham Middle School or another LAUSD school and something happened to you, you are not alone, and it was not your fault. You can sue a California school district any time before your 40th birthday, without filing a government claim first, and you can file as Jane or John Doe.

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(855) 359-1772

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