Black Teen Target Of 'Relentless Bullying' At East Brook: Lawsuit

PARAMUS, NJ — A 13-year-old black student at a Paramus middle school was the victim of "relentless bullying" that included racial slurs, sexual harassment and even threats against her life over the course of nearly two years, a new lawsuit alleges.

The parents of the East Brook Middle School student filed the suit with the Superior Court of Bergen County in late July, which states that the school board's "repeated failure" to take disciplinary action against the teen's bully caused "the racist conduct and targeting" of their daughter to escalate.

According to the lawsuit, the bullying began in September 2019 when a 13-year-old male student made the first of what would be continued racist comments. A few days after the incident, the middle school principal sent a letter to the student's parents stating that their daughter "may have been the target of harassment, intimidation and/or bullying."

An investigation — the first of multiple, the lawsuit says — was started by the school's Anti-Bullying Specialist, whose report found that the comments were "intentional and racially motivated" and created a "hostile educational environment and caused emotional harm."

District officials told the family that measures had been taken to ensure this type of environment wouldn't continue, but the family alleges that the school and district collectively failed to act, making the bullying worse.

The lawsuit alleges that the bullying included comments about the student's body — "fat" and "hippo" became daily comments — and soon, "false sexual rumors" were spread. Racial slurs were investigated by the district, with a report confirming that students had begun calling the student a "black horse" in January 2020.

Still, bullying continued through 2021, with the male student continuing to use racial slurs and spreading rumors about the teenager. In January 2020, two students trespassed at the teenager's home, and, the lawsuit alleges, "terrorized her by knocking on her front door, leaving a broken glass bottle in her drive way, and running away."

In September 2020, the male student allegedly joined a video chat that she was using, and told the teen that "she looked like George Floyd," and that "what happened to Geroge Floyd is what happens to 'your kind of people,'" the lawsuit said.

But the bullying wasn't just relegated to more private moments, the suit alleges.

At an Oct. 3, 2020, football game, the male student arrived and began making "racial insults" while the teenager was cheerleading. According to the suit, the game was "interrupted" when coaches demanded that the male student leave.

Two days later, the male student again joined a video chat, and, according to the suit "threatened to have someone by the name of 'Joey' put two bullets in the back of her head." After this incident was reported to Paramus police, students began to call her "snitch", the lawsuit says.

Again in October 2020, the suit alleges that the male student asked for a message to be relayed that said "he would have the Ku Klux Klan kill Jane Doe and her 'N*****' father."

Eventually, the stress of these continued incidents drove the student to consider self-harm, the suit said, further alleging that the district's continued inaction played a part.

"Despite clear findings substantiating each of Jane Doe's serious claims, East Brook engaged in a campaign of victim-blaming and white-washing," the suit said. "While Jane Doe was repeatedly advised to 'stay away,' her bully suffered no meaningful consequences."

In response to the claims presented in the lawsuit, Superintendent Sean Adams gave this statement to Patch:

The Paramus Board of Education and its administration have aggressively enforced the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights in all of the district’s schools. Any complaint in which a student is alleged to be harassed, intimidated, or bullied is fully investigated by the district’s Anti-Bullying Specialists, with timely decisions and responses from the Superintendent and the Board in accordance with state law. Under the law, these investigations, decisions, consequences, and remedial interventions for alleged victims and offenders are held in the strictest confidence. The allegations underlying the present complaint were fully adjudicated by the Board in accordance with State law and Board policy. The Board and the administration have engaged the entire school community in its efforts to bring awareness to harassment, intimidation, and bullying to maintain a climate and culture of respect in the district’s schools. The Board is confident that its unwavering commitment to the enforcement of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights will be evident in this case.

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