Lawsuit Claims Staples Lacrosse Players Racially Taunted Black Player

WESTPORT, CT — In a lawsuit filed last month in Hartford Superior Court, the family of a Black Glastonbury High School junior varsity lacrosse player claims that members of the Staples High School team racially taunted the Glastonbury player by making monkey noises when he was on the field.

The incident occurred in a game at Westport-based Staples on May 10, the lawsuit claims, and the taunting began at the start of the contest, and continued into the third quarter until the player "left the field and sat on the bench."

At no time did the Glastonbury coach say or do anything to stop the taunting, nor did the Staples coach, according to the lawsuit. Among those named in the suit are both Staples and Glastonbury high schools, the Glastonbury coach, and the Boards of Education in both towns.

Similar types of racially insensitive incidents have been reported this year in Nyack, New York, and Haddonfield, New Jersey.

The Glastonbury player is 15 years old, and after the game on the bus ride back from Westport, he "sat at the back of the bus, alone, and no one said anything to him."

His mother reached out to the Glastonbury High School principal, the district's superintendent and the Staples principal about the incident but did not receive a reply, the lawsuit claims.

The player suffered "severe emotional distress" from the incident, the lawsuit claims, and he "no longer wants anything to do with the lacrosse team."

The family is seeking monetary and punitive damages in excess of $15,000.

In a statement emailed to Patch, Westport Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice said that the district reviewed the matter, and found no basis for the Glastonbury player's claim.

"We take allegations of race-based harassment, discrimination, or other conduct extremely seriously," Scarice. "We stand ready to take action in response to any such conduct that has occurred in connection with our schools. In specific this case, we carefully reviewed this matter when it was brought to our attention, and we have determined that there is no merit to the allegations in the suit. We intend to vigorously defend the district in this lawsuit."

Patch reached out to Alan Bookman, Schools Superintendent in Glastonbury, for comment, but did not immediately receive a reply.