For the second time in the past two years, Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village has been sued by a Black student who says he was subjected to racist abuse from his classmates.
The new lawsuit was filed Oct. 15 in Los Angeles County Superior Court by a boy who is now an eighth grader at a different private school. The boy’s father is Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson, who set the NFL's still-unbroken single season rushing record in 1984. Dickerson was an assistant football coach at Oaks Christian in 2018.
The suit states that when Dickerson’s son was in sixth grade at Oaks Christian, in 2024 and 2025, he was “subjected to a constant and pervasive campaign of racial harassment centered on repeated use of the N-word.”
“The slur was used
openly, frequently and without any consequence,” the lawsuit claims.
One student in particular “emerged as a primary and persistent aggressor,” the lawsuit states. This student repeatedly called Dickerson's son the N-word and gave him a nickname combining the slur with his last name, the suit claims. On a field trip to a zoo, the student compared Dickerson's son to a statue of an animal, according to the lawsuit.
The same student was "known to carry a knife on campus" and was never disciplined for that, the suit claims. The lawsuit states that on another occasion, Dickerson’s son was physically assaulted at lunch by a different classmate, who struck him in the head, took his lunch and poured out his water.
These incidents were reported to teachers and administrators, and the boy's parents met with administrators. Still, there were no “meaningful disciplinary consequences,” the lawsuit states.
Oaks Christian released a statement on Oct. 19 that said the school’s administrators are aware of the lawsuit, dispute the allegations in it and “will respond through the legal process.”
“Oaks Christian School is committed to the dignity of every student, consistent with our Christian faith,” the statement says.
The lawsuit says Oaks Christian violated California civil rights law and is seeking $4,000 per violation, plus additional damages and attorney's fees.
"Oaks Christian's exposure under this statute is substantial," the lawsuit states.
The suit is also seeking damages for negligence and infliction of emotional distress.
Similar claims in 2024 lawsuit
The Dickerson lawsuit comes almost exactly two years after a Black high school senior at Oaks Christian sued the school with a similar complaint. He said that other students used the N-word around him, taunted him with fried chicken and watermelon candy and once threatened to “lynch” him.
During his junior year, a group of students staged a “mock slave auction” in the cafeteria where they pretended to sell the student, the 2024 lawsuit states.
Oaks Christian expelled three students for the “slave auction” incident and said in a statement to The Star that other events described in the suit were never reported to the school. The lawsuit is still pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court and is scheduled to go to trial in January.
In 2024, in response to the first lawsuit, the school released a statement that it said it “does not tolerate racism or discrimination among its faculty, staff, or student communities.”
“And while these actions of student-on-student harassment are unacceptable, and were swiftly and firmly addressed, the actions of a handful of students do not reflect the culture of Oaks Christian School or our broader community," the school's statement says. "To this end, Oaks Christian will continue to aggressively address any forms of discrimination in its school community whatsoever or wherever they may arise.”
Oaks Christian has about 1,800 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Tuition is around $32,000 per year for elementary school students and $47,000 per year for middle school and high school students, according to the school’s website.
The 2024 lawsuit described Oaks Christian as having "a predominantly white student body" and said the plaintiff was "often the only Black student in his classes." According to Niche, a website that provides information supplied by schools themselves or government agencies, Oaks Christian's student body is 3% Black and 49% white, though 18% of students are of "unknown" ethnicity.
Racism been an issue at the school for years. In 2020, a former Oaks Christian student started a Change.org petition called "Black Oaks Christian Alumni and Allies Against Racism." More than 8,000 people eventually signed on to a list of demands that included more black teachers; diversity training; a more diverse curriculum; and equal opportunities for Black students in leadership and student government.
According to the 2024 lawsuit, Rob Black, Oaks Christian's head of school, issued a written response to the campus community at the time that said the school's leaders were driven by a "desire to acknowledge where we have been wrong and have failed to understand many of the issues Black students have faced at Oaks Christian School. We desire to bring about racial healing on our campus and in our community."
Tony Biasotti is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tbiasotti@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism. The foundation plays no role in story selection. The Star retains full editorial control.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Second lawsuit says racial slurs are routine at Oaks Christian
