Earlier this week, a lawsuit was filed against Thomas H. Dudley Family School in Camden, along with school officials, in response to two disabled children being “repeatedly attacked physically and verbally by a bully” at the school. According to the lawsuit, school officials took no action to prevent or stop the bullying.
Earlier this week, a lawsuit was filed against Thomas H. Dudley Family School in Camden, along with school officials, in response to two disabled children being “repeatedly attacked physically and verbally by a bully” at the school. According to the lawsuit, school officials took no action to prevent or stop the bullying.
The bullied students are twins, a brother and sister, who were born prematurely, attended the school from November 2016 to November 2017. At the time of the bullying incident, they “were in the same second-grade class for most of that time.” According to the complaint, the twins “suffer from a variety of health issues,” making them a target for bullying.
What exactly happened, though? What kind of bullying did the twins endure? For starters, the lawsuit mentions ten separate alleged incidents. In many of those incidents, “one or both siblings were physically attacked and verbally ridiculed.” In one particular incident, the twin sister was pinned to the ground by the student bully, who also “mocked her appearance, and then rubbed mulch into her eyes.” Later, the young girl had to go to the emergency room to have her eyes treated as a result of the incident.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges the twin brother was punched in the stomach by the bully in another incident, which prompted the twin’s mother to call the Camden County Police Department. Officers responded and jotted down a report and once again school officials did nothing, according to the lawsuit. In fact, after every alleged bullying incident, whether verbal or physical, the school never launched an investigation or tried to prevent further bullying from happening, according to the complaint.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges the school and its officials violated the “New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act,” among others, and states:
“In this case, the school’s administration completely abdicated their duties and responsibilities, and fostered an environment where one student was able to repeatedly physically assault and victimize two students with disabilities, resulting in physical and emotional damage.”
The lawsuit names a number of school officials as defendants, including “the Camden City Board of Education, Gloria Martinez-Vega, the school’s principal, Debra Gaeta, the children’s teacher, Minerva Castro, the school guidance counselor, and Denise Martinez, the school nurse.”
When commenting on the lawsuit, a school district spokeswoman, Maita Soukup, said:
“While we cannot comment on specific legal matters, the Camden City School District takes all allegations of bullying and harassment extremely seriously. Each school has a staff member assigned to fully investigate these matters and our District staff works to support schools, students, and families in seeking swift resolution whenever these instances are brought to our attention.”
Despite having anti-bullying laws in place since 2002, New Jersey still sees a fair amount of lawsuits filed against school districts over bullying. For example, in 2016 the Mount Ephraim district in Camden County settled a lawsuit for $50,000 after another disabled girl was allegedly mocked and bullied. No one deserves to be bullied, so it will be interesting to see if these lawsuits and settlements will bring about any real change for the bullied students.
Sources:
Lawsuit: Camden school failed to stop bullying of disabled kids
South Jersey school district pays $50K to settle bullying lawsuit
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