Posted by Maria Mangicaro
Bullying Prevention Advocate
mangicaro829@aol.com
Published on Aug 7, 2012
They’re being filed by an attorney who has a history of taking action in these types of cases.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. —Four new lawsuits were announced Tuesday against Jefferson County Public Schools.
All of them cited complaints of bullying within the school system.
Attorney Teddy Gordon has filed 11 lawsuits against the school district over the past year.
Two of those have been filed just in the past few days.
Some name students as defendants, others allege wrongdoings of teachers and administrators. But all of them are based on what parents called a lack of intervention by JCPS.
“Insults, bullying, torment, harassment — just an atmosphere of violence,” said Gordon.
The most public of the cases involved a second-grade boy at Frayser Elementary School. The lawsuit stated two fifth-graders “assaulted (the victim) in the bathroom at the school leaving him to die by hanging him on the hook in the bathroom stall.”
That lawsuit named a teacher, the school’s principal and the two fifth-graders as defendants.
JCPS has said that all staff members followed protocol.
“Nothing is being done. It’s a cancer that’s growing and growing. When it’s reported, (they’re) not taking any action to protect these kids,” said Gordon.
Another case surrounds a female student who said six boys brutally sexually assaulted her on the bus to Lassiter Middle School.
Her family said the boys were supposed to be transferred, but were only suspended.
“I send my child to school for safety and to get a good education, not to be touched on or bullied,” said Crystal Bennett, who said her daughter was bullied.
Two more students from Thomas Jefferson Middle School claimed they were bullied, taunted by homophobic slurs, not only by other students, but also by teachers.
“If the judicial system doesn’t get involved, there’s going be more dead children,” said Bekishia Cosby, who said her son was bullied.
“They called him gay. They talk about his face. They talk about his speech. They talk about because he’s a couple years behind they talk about his age,” said Tara Hunt, who said her son was bullied.
In each case, parents said they notified the school of the alleged bullying.
Gordon said if nothing changes, he will continue to go after the school system.
“We ask for justice in the court of law because we’re not getting it in the Jefferson County Public Schools,” said Gordon.
JCPS did not return calls for comment Tuesday, but in the past have said they have a long standing policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
None of the victims in these cases will be going back to the schools where the alleged bullying took place.
Anti-Bullying Laws 