QUESTION
My 6 years old daughter has been accused of a racial comment and the principal decided to take action based on hearsay.
Asked on Jan 05th, 2015 on Discrimination - New Jersey
More details to this question:
There were 4 kids sharing a tiny piece of chocolate. A 5th one asks to share but there was no more. That kid complained that they didn't give her because she is black. 2 of the 4 girls are hispanic. They all blame my daughter that she said we only share with white people. Given that her guardian is black and her best friend is African American I know for sure there is no way to have said so. But the principal is .claiming that she admitted her guilt and decided to apply a punishment. I was present one of the times he questioned her and she denied, there was simply no more chocolate. Since the beginning of the school year she has been harassed. from some classmates that she is not smart, about wearing glasses, not having a middle name, to cut her too long hair, and more. I reached out to the teacher but I never had any response and the principal told me that the above doesn't qualify for bulling. But now he feels obligated to apply the law based on hearsay with no adult present.
1 ANSWER
Criminal Defense Attorney serving Toms River, NJ
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Edward J. Dimon
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The courts have given school administrators broad discretion to act within the school. The school administrators do not need to act in a perfect fashion. Rather, the school administrators must only act reasonably. Courts will only overturn such action if in fact there was discrimination based upon race religion or sexual orientation. The burden is upon the plaintiff, in this case you, to prove who hurt racial sexual or religious discrimination. This is a significant burden and difficult to meet. Ed Dimon
Answered on Jan 05th, 2015 at 7:06 PM