The student, Mitch Carter, was a 17 year-old student at Bakersfield High School when the incident occurred in 2010.
He wore the chicken suit to mock the mascot of the Clovis School Golden Hawks on the day of championship football game.
Several students — including many members of the varsity football team — dog-piled onto Carter, punching and kicking him violently. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and spent six months in treatment.
According to his lawyer:
He was put in the most hated, personified figure at that time: the opposing team’s mascot. They dressed him up and had him play the fool.”
According to the LA Times, Cater tried to stop the performance mid-way through the skit after two students hit him and knocked him over.
The school activities director, Anna Lovan, allegedly told Carter he would have to continue the skit or pay the $75 rental fee for the costume. Minutes after he returned, more students violently attacked.
Carter testified that after the beating, Ms. Lovan left him in a stairwell with a pile of brown rags to soak up the blood.
The lawyer representing Carter put on the chicken suit to convince the jury that the school district was 100% liable. In 2005, the same thing happened to a teacher named Bob Stone who had broken ribs, broken bones, a torn bicep, and shoulder injuries after a pep rally beating.
Source: Courthouse News Service