The parents of a severely autistic boy who bashed his head dozens of times while a school-bus matron yelled at him were stunned yesterday after they were awarded $100,000 for their son’s pain and suffering.
The parents of PJ Rossi had been seeking close to $5 million for their son’s 2005 “bus ride from hell” — in which matron Connie Clark was secretly taped calling the then 7-year- old a “knucklehead” and yelling, “Oww, shut up!” as he violently smacked his head.
“After all this time, this is the outcome?” the boy’s dad, Paul Rossi, told The Post last night. “It’s disgraceful, it’s absolutely disgusting.”
Jurors in the Brooklyn civil trial initially awarded PJ’s parents $200,000 and split the blame between the city and the Atlantic Express bus company, which employed Clark.
But Justice Herbert Kramer instantly junked the city’s share, dealing a further blow to the parents, who contended the city should have provided PJ with a paraprofessional and not a matron.
“My son is not the same kid as he was before Sept. 29, 2005, and he may never be,” said Rossi, a retired NYPD detective.
His wife, Lisa, had put a tape recorder in PJ’s backpack after noticing a bump on the head of her son, who cannot speak.