Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai LLP is proud to represent Mark Mead in his lawsuit against the Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) for wrongful demotion, defamation, negligence, and more. The case stems from a chaotic incident at Beverly Hills High School in November 2024, when pro-Trump student protests threatened to escalate into volatility on campus.
Mead, then the district’s executive director of school safety, took decisive action to calm the crowd and safeguard students amid the unrest. A student cellphone video of Mead at that protest was then doctored to make it appear that Mead assaulted a student. The doctored and sensational video circulated widely on social media even as Mead provided the District with better quality surveillance video from multiple angles proving that he never assaulted anyone. A third-party investigation cleared Mead of any misconduct, but BHUSD still demoted him to a teaching position.
HSRD partner Morgan Ricketts emphasized the injustice: “Mark effectively and efficiently acted to protect students in a tense, rapidly evolving situation when the pro-Trump protests could have easily turned violent. If the District had just followed its own policies when this obviously sensational claim was made, Mark’s job and reputation probably would have been saved. But instead, the District affirmatively decided to act outside of policy. The District needs to be held accountable for what it’s done to Mark.”
This lawsuit highlights BHUSD’s failure to adhere to its procedures, resulting in reputational harm and career damage to a dedicated educator who prioritized student safety. Our firm, with a strong track record in civil rights and employment cases, is committed to seeking justice.
Read more here: https://beverlypress.com/2026/02/bhusd-sued-for-wrongful-demotion-defamation/.
Here is a copy of our complaint.
For further information, contact Morgan Ricketts at mricketts@hadsellstormer.com or David Washington at dwashington@hadsellstormer.co