The Douglas County School District’s attempt to exclude the Castle Rock Middle School principal from a racial discrimination lawsuit has failed.
The lawsuit, filed last summer by three families in Colorado’s U.S. District Court, alleges that four black or multiracial students at Castle Rock Middle School and Douglas County High School were racially harassed. The suit argues that the students were denied their right to an equal education.
On August 8, Judge John Kane denied the district’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Castle Rock Middle School Principal John Viet, arguing that Viet was not immune from prosecution in the case.
The lawsuit alleges that Viet knew about the harassment and discrimination and failed to prevent it, and that the district violated the students’ civil rights.
Christ Whitney, an attorney for the Ganzy, Martin and Clark families who are suing in the case, praised the judge’s decision to continue representing the school principal named in the lawsuit.
“It’s good for families because it allows them to move forward,” Whitney said. “I think it’s important to send a message to other school leaders to be more vigilant when it comes to racism in schools.”
The district argued in its motion to dismiss the case against Viet that he was entitled to qualified immunity.
In a statement to the Douglas County News-Press, the district said the ruling does not change its defense.
“This was a procedural decision and we will continue to vigorously defend the allegations made by the plaintiffs in this case,” the statement said.
The lawsuit was filed after Lacey Ganzy and her son, then an eighth-grader, reported to the district that a group chat of more than 100 students at Castle Rock Middle School was spreading racist messages and encouraging harassment. Screenshots of a group chat show that some students used the N-word, threatened to shoot black people, shared racist memes and talked about reliving the Holocaust.
Other allegations in the lawsuit include that the students were called “cotton pickers” by their classmates and compared to monkeys. One student was allegedly photographed in the bathroom and the picture was posted on the Internet.
According to allegations in the complaint, each student reported their experiences to their teachers or school administration, but school district personnel either did not respond or did not take the reports seriously.
The lawsuit also alleges that students’ reports were not shared with their parents and that schools did not inform parents about what was happening.
One student changed schools amid the bullying situation and two others switched to online classes, the lawsuit says.
No hearings have been scheduled in this case yet.
