$23.5 million settlement reached in lawsuit over special-needs teen’s death on Whittier school bus

The family of an autistic teenager from Whittier who died when he was left on a sweltering school bus for hours in 2015 has received $23.5 million in a settlement with the company whose employee was convicted in January in the teen’s death.

The parents of Hun Joon “Paul” Lee, 19, a student at Sierra Vista Adult School, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in December 2015 after their son was left unattended on a bus for seven hours on a day in which temperatures reached nearly 100 degrees.

The teen was found unconscious and lying on the floor of the bus parked at Mulberry Drive and Greenleaf Avenue in Whittier. Police said he died at the scene.

The bus driver, Armando Abel Ramirez, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of dependent adult abuse resulting in death and admitted an allegation of proximately causing death to the victim. He was sentenced to two years in state prison.

A police report of the incident released by the family’s attorneys detailed a series of sexually explicit text messages Ramirez sent to another bus driver that morning when he left Lee on the bus. The attorneys alleged Ramirez was distracted by the text messages, and that the company, Pupil Transportation Cooperative, was permissive in dealing with relationships between its employees and what they did while on breaks.

The other bus driver interviewed by Whittier police following Lee’s death told investigators she and Ramirez planned to meet at her house that day when he was done with his morning shift.

According to the police report, the other driver told police she felt guilty that while she and Ramirez were having sex, “this kid was dying, and we were laughing.” She also told police she believed PTC knew of their affair and did nothing to stop it.

PTC previously disputed the Lee family attorneys’ claim that the company allowed employee relationships. But in a statement Monday the company said it had changed its policies following the incident, without detailing which polices had been changed.

“It has been our priority to reach a resolution with the family of Paul Lee. Though nothing will ever ease the pain they have endured, we have worked diligently to refine our policies to ensure that something like this never happens again,” the company said in the statement.

“PTC remains dedicated to providing safe, high-quality transportation services to the children and families in our communities.”

The family’s attorneys said even with the massive settlement, they’ll never be healed from the loss of their son.

“Although some might see this as bringing closure for the Lee family, it does not,” said Rahul Ravipudi, an attorney at Panish Shea & Boyle LLP. “Paul was the center of the family and his loss will be felt forever.”

Lee’s death led to a new state law mandating new procedures for school bus safety.

The Paul Lee School Bus Safety Law, authored by State Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Jan. 1. The bill requires all school buses in California to be equipped with a child-safety alarm system in the back of the vehicle that must be turned off by the bus driver, ensuring the driver checks each seat.

Bus drivers, upon renewal of their annual school bus driver safety certificate, will be required to receive training in child-safety check procedures.

The new law will go into effect beginning in the 2018-19 school year.