(KRON) -- A San Jose neighbor who accused an 11-year-old boy with autism of being a "public nuisance" was recently ordered to pay the boy's family $8 million following a jury trial in Santa Clara County civil court.
The boy, Ezekiel, his mother, Serena Arvayo, and his grandfather, lived in a rental house on Boynton Avenue. Their next-door neighbor filed a lawsuit in December 2023 against the three-generational family and the Arvayos' landlord, demanding a "public nuisance abatement" and restraining order.
The lawsuit filed by attorneys representing the next-door neighbor described the boy's behavior as "indecent" and "offensive."
The neighbor claimed that the boy "has been left in the backyard almost daily to wail and scream for hours, often without adult supervision," according to the suit. Disturbances caused her to suffer emotional distress while working from home, adversely impacting her career and business, and caused "loss of enjoyment" of her home, the neighbor claimed.
In response to the lawsuit, Arvayo's attorneys filed a cross-complaint in March 2024. The cross-complaint states that Ezekiel is non-verbal, has Level 3 autism, and was diagnosed when he was 2 years old. "Consequently, he has difficulty communicating and suffers from sensory challenges which require 24-hour supervision. Serena is a single mother who has dedicated her life to caring for her son."
The boy goes to school and attends behavioral therapy classes every weekday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. When he is at home on weekend afternoons, the boy enjoys playing in his backyard chasing bubbles, the cross-complaint states. The bubbles "often resulted in him expressing his joy through vocal stimming, a form of vocalization and self-stimulatory behavior. Given his condition and need for supervision, Ezekiel was never left unsupervised," the cross-complaint states.
Before any lawsuits were filed, the neighbor allegedly approached Serena Arvayo for the first time, introduced herself, listed her grievances about the 11-year-old boy, and requested that the mother no longer allow her son to play outside in his own backyard, according to court documents.
"Shocked, Serena began to explain that Ezekiel was a young child who suffered from a
severe form of autism and was completely non-verbal. The noises ... were Ezekiel's attempt to communicate emotions and were uncontrollable," attorneys wrote in the cross-complaint.
"Instead of being understanding, (the neighbor) asked Serena, directly in front of Ezekiel, if
there was a cure for his condition," attorneys wrote.
The neighbor also wrote text messages to the Arvayo family's landlord to report the boy for making "strange noises," court records show.
The court threw out the neighbor's public nuisance lawsuit in September, and a jury recently reached a verdict to decide the Arvayo family's cross-complaint. Jurors awarded the boy and his family $8 million, attorney said, for the neighbor's "intentional infliction of emotional distress."
Attorneys with the law firm Behar Gibbs Savage Paulson LLP and Rossi, Hamerslough, Reischl & Chuck represented the Arvayo family. Attorney Rachael Boden told KRON4 in a statement, "This verdict is a great feeling of justice for this family."
Boden continued, "This has been a years long battle that we had no choice but to fight. This verdict shows that the jury listened to the evidence, understood the struggles and the daily life of the Arvayo family and truly stood behind this amazing family. While the sounds an Autistic child makes are audible, they do not constitute a nuisance in our civilized society. We hope this case shines a light on the real life day to day that families like this go through."
An attorney who represents the neighbor did not immediately respond to KRON4's request for comment.
Despite having to pay higher rent for a new home, Serena Arvayo and her son moved out of the Boynton Avenue house because of harassment from their neighbor. The $8 million will help cover assistance and security for Ezekiel, Boden said.
