The latest lawsuit to enter federal court comes from a mother who claims her daughter had a disturbing encounter with her math teacher. And by disturbing, we mean racist.
Amica Richardson filed a suit against a school in Elgin, Ill. after an incident from last year. Richardson’s suit says her 11-year-old daughter had just begun her sixth grade year at Elgin Ellis Middle School, where she was placed in an Individualized Education Program. Richardson said her daughter came home one day detailing a concerning encounter with her math teacher.
“She walked into the classroom, and the teacher immediately got into her face, and saying, ‘What should you be called? What should I address you as? The N word or Black?” Richardson said in a press conference last week.
Richardson’s daughter wasn’t the only witness. The family civil rights attorney Jack Casciato told ABC 7 Chicago six students confirmed in a statement that they heard the girl being called the n-word. Casciato also claimed the remark resulted in other students bullying the girl.
Richardson’s suit says she pulled her daughter from school for a few weeks, in concern of her mental health. However, when the girl returned, Richardson said the teacher was no longer working at the school. The Elgin School District U-46 could not confirm whether the teacher was fired, per ABC’s report.
In response to the incident, the district said their priority is the well-being and education of their students.
“School district U-46 does not endorse or tolerate any use of epithets of any kind, nor does the school district endorse or tolerate any disparaging remarks or slurs,” the district said in a statement.
The suit names the district, the Elgin Board of Education, the middle school and the teacher as defendants. They are accused of violating the Civil Rights Act. Until further litigation, Richardson told reporters last week her daughter is still struggles psychologically by the incident.
“She just don’t want to be Black anymore. She don’t want to go to school. She just don’t feel comfortable,” said Richardson in a press conference.