Bloomfield Hills Student, Parents Upset Over Racism; File Lawsuit

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI — A student and her parents filed a $150 million federal lawsuit against the Bloomfield Hills School District on Thursday accusing of racial discrimination.

The 15-year-old student from Bloomfield Hills High School and her parents are suing the school district, its superintendent Patrick Watson and high school principal Charlie Hollerith claiming they failed to properly address several racist incidents, the lawsuit said.

"As students of color, Plaintiffs and their parents have experienced racist, unfair, hurtful and at times dangerous interactions at BHHS at the hands of both white staff and students," the lawsuit says.

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The lawsuit laid out several instances of reported racism at the high school, including a photo of a black doll with a noose around its neck, hanging from the second floor down to the first floor. The doll was later dragged down the hall in "plain view of African American students," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also claims a white student in the young girl's class also used the "N-word" in the present of the entire class and was never penalized for it.

Other photos in the lawsuit showed text in the women's bathroom reading "kill all (n-word)," while another read "all the (n-word) should be dead," as well as "I hate (n-word), they need to be extinguished."

The racial photos and video threats against African Americans "freighted" the young girl to be around her white classmates in the high school, the lawsuit said.

It also caused the young girl to suffer emotional distress, which included sleeplessness and nightmares, loss of appetite and negatively impacting the quality of her schoolwork, the lawsuit said.

The young girl's lawyer and her parents claim the school district and its officials are not handling the situation properly.

"Despite being notified of race discrimination and related injustices by students and parents, Defendant has failed and continues to fail to take steps reasonably calculated to stop the discrimination and ensure Plaintiff’s safety," the lawsuit said.

A Bloomfield Hills School District spokesperson told Patch in a statement they cannot comment on the specifics of the pending litigation, but did day the school district has been "actively listening to the concerns of our students, families and community."

The statement also said the district has reported the incidents to the Bloomfield Hills Township Police Department for further investigation and will shift to online learning for Monday and Tuesday so students can rest and heal while administrators and staff can discuss ideas to best support its students, families and staff.

"Most importantly, irrespective of any legal filings, the topic of equity and inclusion will continue to be a top priority for Bloomfield Hills Schools, as it has for the past several years," the statement said. "The district will emerge stronger and better as a result of these conversations, undeterred from its commitment to all students and facilitate a school environment of safety and support for every student."

Hundreds of students protested the racist incidents at the school by walking out of class last Friday.

The school district responded by holding a community forum on Tuesday, in which hundreds of parents attended.

"This is something me and my wife talked about," parent Trek Carethers told WDIV. "One of the things we’re very upset about is that when we were getting notices from the school district it was very generic."

The Detroit News reported school administrators told the audience they working to address the matter and seeking ways to "tackle the issue."

"I am encouraged by the work the students and staff are doing together, but it’s clear we must improve relations between students and administrators, have clearer communications, better transparency and a revision of current policies," Principal Charlie Hollerith told an audience of hundreds, according the The Detroit News.