New York School District Sued for Failing to Protect Gay Student from Harassment

8/21/09-by Paula Brooks
The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, against an up state New York School District on behalf of a student who says he has been continually harassed because he is gay.

The suit alleges that the Mohawk Central School District violated the students rights under the 14th Amendment; Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, and state human rights and civil rights laws, by failing to protect him from harassment, physical abuse and threats of violence from his fellow students, that the according to court documents harmed the his academic performance and mental health.

The plaintiff is seeking changes to school policies and practices to address the harassment, as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

The student, a 14 year-old boy simply called Jacob in court papers, claims while attending Gregory B. Jarvis Junior/Senior High School over the past two years he has endured escalating harassment for his sexual orientation and for not conforming to masculine stereotypes.

He also claims that he has suffered continually verbal assaults, has had his personal property defaced and broken, and he was regularly pushed and had things thrown at him. The suit as well says the student has been physically assaulted claiming, a student knocked Jacob down the stairs and sprained his ankle and another student brought a knife to school and threatened to kill him.

The suit also says that while district officials were aware of the harassment, they failed to formerly investigate, discipline students, or inform the student and his parents of their rights to file complaints under the school’s grievance procedures.
The suit names the Mohawk Central School District; Joyce Caputo, superintendent of schools; Edward Rinaldo, the school’s principal; and Cynthia Stocker, the district’s equal opportunity compliance officer as defendants.

“Jacob, like all students, has a right to be safe at school,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said. “No child should live in fear because of their sexual orientation, or because they look or act differently than others. That the principal and other school officials would turn their backs on this vulnerable young man is unconscionable. What’s more, it’s illegal.”

The Students father, Robert Sullivan, says in the suit that he had called Principal Rinaldo regularly regarding these incidents and threats. Additionally, the student’s mother and stepmother also claim they spoke to Rinaldo several times over the phone and in person. Each time, Rinaldo promised to look into the harassment allegations, but he never reported to Jacob’s parents on any steps taken to investigate incidents, the outcome of any such investigations, and any subsequent corrective or disciplinary actions.

At a June 9, 2009 meeting, Rinaldo allegedly told Sullivan that he could not guarantee the boys safety at school and stated that the harassment would likely continue in the upcoming school year. Rinaldo and Sullivan agreed that for the plaintiff’s safety, he would not attend school for the remainder of the year except to take his final exams.
District policy requires the school’s equal opportunity compliance officer to interview all relevant persons involved in a harassment complaint, Yet the suit further claims that Cynthia Stocker, the compliance officer, interviewed neither Jacob nor his father about the incidents the, nor did she file reports on each incident as required by the policy. In addition, neither Stocker nor Rinaldo ever reported the harassment complaints to the proper authorities, in violation of the policy, claims the boy’s father.

“We didn’t want to file this lawsuit, but we had no other choice to keep our son safe,” said Robert Sullivan, Jacob’s father. “But this lawsuit goes beyond Jacob. We’re doing this for all of the kids out there who need help.”

Said NYCLU staff attorney Corey Stoughton, lead counsel on the case. “By behaving as though they were powerless to stop the threats and abuse, they not only discriminated against our client, but also violated their own policies and practices for preventing harassment and discrimination.”

The Mohawk Central School District is located in Herkimer County, NY, northwest of the State Capitol of Albany and is part of the Utica-Rome, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area.

http://www.nyclu.org/node/2554
http://images.bimedia.net/documents/Jacob_Complaint.8.18.09.pdf
http://images.bimedia.net/documents/Affidavit_RobertSullivan_Jacob.pdf
http://images.bimedia.net/documents/Affidavit_Jacob.pdf