The lawsuit, filed by the alleged 15-year-old victim’s mother, claims that Pineview Christian Academy administrators repeatedly punished their daughter for being assaulted–yet to refused to take any meaningful action against the older perpetrator, who was permitted to return to school the following day.
An Alabama student and her family have filed a lawsuit against Pineview Christian Academy in Harvest, claiming that the institute punished the 15-year-old girl after she reported a sexual assault.
According to Alabama Live, the lawsuit was filed in Madison County Circuit Court late last month.
The 15-year-old plaintiff, who is not identified in any court documents, is seeking compensatory and punitive damages against the school.
In her complaint, the student said that a 17-year-old male student attending a summer camp in Pisgah purportedly grabbed her hair, saying that he “liked” its appearance or texture.
While the plaintiff claims that she pushed the older boy away, he prevented her from leaving, placing a hand on her thigh and her “private parts.”
“No, stay,” the 17-year-old student allegedly said.
The plaintiff then fled, striking the boy and jumping off a trampoline before swimming to safety.
Attorneys for the student say that the 17-year-old student may have touched other girls “inappropriately.”
After reporting the incident to summer camp officials, the male was—apparently—removed from the program, but was in attendance in class the next day.
Alabama Live notes that the plaintiff told two teachers about the incident, with others learning about it later.
The 15-year-old said that she met with a Department of Human Resources representative at school, but missed several volleyball practices “due to the traumatic events.”
In one incident, a volleyball coach allegedly told the girl that she was “being disrespectful and that she had a bad attitude.”
In response, the coach not only prevented the girl from playing in live games but cut her “play time” after she was eventually reinstated.
The 17-year-old male student, however, did not appear to face any significant discipline.
“Plaintiff’s parents complained […] on multiple occasions that their daughter was being retaliated against at school by teachers and other students because she had complained about sexual assault, but nothing was done about these complaints,” the lawsuit alleges.
Late last year, Pineview Christian Academy administrators sent the girl’s parents an email, in which they proposed “an agreed upon mutual separation” that precluded the 15-year-old and her siblings from attending the school.
The administrators said that a “separation” might be in all parties’ best interests, since it was “clear that [the school] couldn’t meet [the parents’] level of expectations.”
Attorneys for the plaintiff and her mother note that, after the mother attended a meeting with school officials, she was asked to sign a form.
While Pineview officials allegedly said that the form simply stated that the school would no longer be responsible for the 15-year-old girl’s education, the mother has since claimed that it was actually a non-disclosure agreement that included a release of all claims.
The mother, however, refused to sign the form, even after Pineview administrators said that they would not refund her daughter’s tuition unless she did.
Sources
Alabama Christian school punished girl who reported sexual assault, lawsuit claims
Madison County student files lawsuit against old school for lack of action on sexual assault
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