This photo was submitted as evidence of the girl’s rope injury. Photo courtesy of The Huffington Post.
Summary: The family of a black girl who allegedly was dragged with a rope around her neck by three white boys is suing the school for not investigating the incident.
During an overnight school trip, three white boys allegedly tied a rope around the neck of 12-year-old black classmate and dragged her, causing lacerations around her neck. Now her family is suing the school because they say the incident was mishandled.
During a trip on April 28, students stumbled upon a rope swing hanging from a tree. The three white boys took the free-hanging rope and wrapped it around their classmate’s neck when she wasn’t looking. In the lawsuit, it stated that she was jerked violently to the ground before being dragged by the rope. The lawsuit also stated that one of the boys had previously bullied her.
Attorney Levi G. McCarthen represents the family of “K.P.” the girl who was allegedly dragged. He stated to the Huffington Post that he was “shocked” at the lack of action Live Oak Classical School had to the girl’s story. In the lawsuit, the family claims that the private school dean Allison Buras did not investigate the incident nor notify the girl’s mother of it.
“It was evident from our initial assessment that this case is not one of mere negligent supervision, but of a systematic and organizational failure in leadership by those in charge of the Live Oak Classical School,” McCarthen said.
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K.P.’s family is seeking $3 million in damages. The lawsuit stated that the family sought the sum “to not only compensate the victims in this case, but to deter this type of egregious conduct from others in the future, and to serve as an example to all educational institutions that this type of behavior is unacceptable.”
MCarthen added that it was hard to ignore the racial implications of this case, but Live Oak said that there was no evidence that the bullies were motivated by racism.
“I have interviewed the students, the chaperones and the doctor who treated the student right after the accident, and the information I obtained points to nothing but an unfortunate accident,” the school’s lawyer David Deaconson said.
McCarthern said the school’s statement that it was an “accident” was “tone deaf” and indicative of an “already horrific problem.”
Live Oak has mostly white students, and before the incident, K.P. had told her parents that some students wouldn’t talk to her and that she was being bullied. The lawsuit detailed how she had been previously pushed, kicked, and shoved by a boy when a teacher wasn’t looking, and that K.P.’s mother spoke to the dean who was dismissive about the complaints.
Do you think the incident was spurned by racism or was an “accident?” Let us know in the comments below.
Source: The Huffington Post