According to the Mercury News, a young African-American student that was called "my slave" by a teacher ordering him to clean up garbage from a lunchroom floor, and then a second time the next day by another school staff member, has prompted a personal injury lawsuit.
The student's father, N.L., runs the MVP Sports Clinics youth basketball program, which upholds to the slogan, "MVP Morals, Values and Principles." N.L. said that after district officials tried to downplay the incident he felt compelled to file a suit against the Selby Lane School.
The lawsuit was filed in San Mateo County Superior Court.
N.L. told reporters, "The slave word is just like the n-word to me. I already know there's a big part of society that's racist. I want to protect my children. I want them to know it's not OK for people to be calling them racial slurs."
N.L. Jr., 12 at the time, refused to clean up the school's garbage when his teacher referred to him as his "slave." Instead, the boy told his teacher that he was not responsible for the trash and that he "was not a slave."
The teacher, Ms. A., then brought N.L. Jr. to the principal. Once in principal D.M.'s office the boy was instructed to write out a report detailing the incident.
On the following day Mr. F., another school employee, allegedly told N.L. Jr. that all of the students would not be allowed to leave the lunch room because he had refused to collect the trash the day before.
According to the lawsuit, N.L. Jr. declined a second time to clean up the lunch room and this time it was Mr. F. that said, "You are my slave. This isn't a free country." N.L. Jr. reported the second incident to another school staff person.
Again N.L. Jr. was escorted to principal D.M.'s office to face D.M., vice principal W.S. and the employee that had referred to him as his slave. The employee apologized for his actions at that time.
Naomi Hunter, the Redwood City School District spokeswoman, via e-mail said, "We don't tolerate racial discrimination in the Redwood City School District, and we always take action if discrimination is proven."
The suit states that the two-day incident has caused "fear, shock, public humiliation, and extreme emotional distress" in N.L. Jr.
The family claims to have incurred medical bills relating to mental and physical health treatments for N.L. Jr. Some of the issues he has suffered with include "wetting the bed, having nightmares, and his attitude towards anyone of authority, including his parents, has been adversely affected."
N.L. has since transferred his son to the Roy Cloud Elementary School.
N.L. commented, "You can say it's puberty, you can say whatever you want, but I've seen a change in my kid since he's gone to that school."
If you or your child has been physically or emotionally hurt by the actions of another party you have grounds for a lawsuit. Contact a personal injury lawyer to file for damages.