Brooklawn School District Settles Lawsuit with Fourth Grade Student for $100,000
Saturday, October 28, 2017
CNBNEWS STAFF
BROOKLAWN, NJ (October 28, 2017)--The Brooklawn Board of Education paid out $100,000 to settle a fourth grader's claim that she was incessantly bullied and denied access to her anti-anxiety medicine according to NJ Civil Settlements (https://njcivilsettlements.blogspot.com/).
On September 20, 2017, a judge approved a $100,000 settlement for a fourth grade girl who said that she was bullied so severely by other students that she was prescribed anti-anxiety medication that the school nurse refused to give her. Her anxiety became so severe, her suit alleges, that she attempted to harm herself landing her in a crisis center. The girl had attended the Alice Costello School which is operated by the Brooklawn (Camden County) Board of Education.
In her suit, the female student identified only by her initials J.R., said that in 2012, when she was a fourth grader at the Alice Costello School in 2012, three other students, also identified only by their initials, called her "a 'slut, 'bitch,' and 'f***ing whore' at least several times a week during [her] entire forth grade year." According to the lawsuit, the girl's mother complained to her daughter's teacher who in turn relayed the complaint to former Superintendent John Kellmayer who allegedly "did not do anything to prevent the harassment."
By the time she entered the fifth grade, the alleged harassment by the three students worsened. They allegedly added the terms "ugly" and "mother f***er" to their list of insults and starting slapping J.R. hard enough to make her fall to the ground. The suit claims that the girl's gym teacher would not take her out of class so that she could be away from two of the harassers.
During fifth grade, J.R. said that her three tormentors took her to a secluded area of the playground and slapped her, punched her and kicked her in the groin. They allegedly lifted her up and dropped her causing "causing significant bruising on her back and her knee." Again, Kellmayer allegedly did nothing to stop the abuse and reportedly refused to meet with the girl's mother to discuss it.
The alleged harassment caused J.R. to take anti-anxiety medication that were, according to the lawsuit, to be administered by school nurse Jill Tourtual "whenever [J.R.] started to feel symptoms of her anxiety." Tourtual allegedly refused to give J.R. her anxiety medication because she felt that J.R. "was using the anxiety pills as a 'crutch" and that her anxiety was not real and she was simply looking for attention." Tourtual also reportedly told J.R. that she did not want her to become a "pill popper."
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