For the fourth time in recent years, a sexual harassment lawsuit has been filed against Nashville public schools over allegations that education authorities failed to properly respond to student-on-student misconduct.
The suit, according to The Tennessean, is requesting $3 million as well as punitive damages. An additional condition would require Nashville public schools to comply with federal laws on sexual harassment.
Filed on Monday, the litigation alleges that a 14-year old student – referred to in court documents simply as Mary Doe #2 – was subjected to “unwelcome sexual conduct” by an ‘unspecified’ number of 18-year old male students in a stairwell at Maplewood High School last September.
Another 14-year old girl was purportedly with Doe #2 in the stairwell. She too was subjected to the same misconduct, with at least one of the 18-year old alleged perpetrators having recorded the incident.
The Tennessean says that the practice of videotaping consensual or forced sexual encounters is so prevalent in Metropolitan Nashville schools that it has been lent the moniker “exposing.”
Teenage girls who are “exposed” are typically derided as “whores” or “sluts,” regardless of whether they were willing participants in the action or forced to partake.
Both of the 14-year old girls who were purportedly assaulted – Mary Doe #2 and Jane Doe #2 – reported the incident to school authorities. In both cases, the young students were told to return to class, with the principal not bothering to even inform the mother of Jane Doe #2 of what happened.
Despite the video evidence, no substantial action was taken against any of the 18-year old males who could be identified from the tape.
The local District Attorney’s office declined to prosecute anyone involved in the case after law enforcement made the results of their investigation available to the DA.
When pressed for comment by The Tennessean, Tammy Meade, a sex crimes prosecutor with the DA’s office, said information couldn’t locate or discuss a case without the name of the victim.
Since both Mary Doe and Jane Doe were underage at the time of the alleged assault, their names and identities are confidential in both police records and civil lawsuits.
Sources
Fourth sexual violence lawsuit filed against Nashville public schools
Lawsuits: 3 Nashville-area schools ‘deliberately indifferent’ to sexual assault reports
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