A Northern California family has been awarded $8 million after a neighbor filed a lawsuit characterizing an 11-year-old autistic boy as a “public nuisance” due to his backyard vocalizations. The Santa Clara County jury’s verdict followed a legal dispute between the boy, Ezequiel, his mother, Serena Arvayo, and their next-door neighbor.
The neighbor filed a complaint in December 2023, targeting the family and their landlord. She sought a “public nuisance abatement” and a restraining order, alleging the boy's sounds were “indecent” and “offensive,” and that he was left in the backyard unsupervised, wailing and screaming for hours. The neighbor claimed these noises caused her emotional distress, interfered with her work, and harmed her career, also alleging a loss of enjoyment of her property.
In a cross-complaint filed in March 2024, the family’s attorneys countered that Ezequiel is a nonverbal child with Level 3 autism, diagnosed at age 2. They stated he has difficulty communicating, suffers from sensory challenges, and requires 24-hour supervision, with his mother being a single parent dedicated to his care. According to the filing, Ezequiel attends school and behavioral therapy daily, and on weekend afternoons, he expresses joy through vocal stimming, a behavior associated with his condition. The filing emphasized that he was never left unsupervised.
The family’s legal team also detailed an earlier encounter where the neighbor allegedly complained about Ezequiel's noises and asked that he not be allowed in the backyard. When Arvayo explained her son's autism and nonverbal condition, the neighbor reportedly asked if there was a “cure.” Court records also indicate the neighbor sent text messages to the landlord complaining about the boy’s “strange noises.”
The neighbor's public nuisance case was dismissed in September. Subsequently, a jury considered the family's cross-complaint and awarded Ezequiel and his family $8 million for the neighbor’s “intentional infliction of emotional distress,” according to their attorneys. "This verdict is a great feeling of justice for this family," attorney Rachael Boden stated. "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."
Arvayo and Ezequiel reportedly left their rental home due to the neighbor's harassment, even though their new residence involved higher rent. Boden added that the awarded funds will help provide security and assistance for Ezequiel.