Sometimes the worst bullies are the adults you’re supposed to trust. A boy in Chicago learned that the hard way when staffers at Fiske Elementary School in Chicago allegedly tossed him into the cold wearing short sleeves and no jacket. That’s according to a lawsuit filed against the City of Chicago, the Chicago Board of Education, the school’s principal and other school staffers.
The plaintiffs, who have requested a jury trial, are alleging battery, excessive force and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The boy is identified only as “K.S.” in the complaint.
K.S.’s mother, Yvonne Pinkston, said her son had been bullied since his first day at Fiske Elementary School, but the school did absolutely nothing to stop it. In fact, according to the complaint filed in U.S. district court, school officials did exactly the opposite. Not only did they fail to protect K.S., they “became abusive towards him.”
Fiske Elementary Lawsuit
In a news conference, the family’s attorney, Dan Herbert, showed journalists a school surveillance video (poted below. In it, a school security guard can be seen pushing K.S. toward an exterior door. Fiske Elementary School’s principal and a counselor are seen forming a “barrier” to prevent the child from reentering the building.
With the rest of the doors locked, the boy had to sit outside in the frigid Chicago cold. The incident occurred on March 26, 2019 when, according to Fox 59, the low temperature was 27 degrees and the high was 46 degrees.
K.S. “sat outside in the cold, with a polo shirt on, for 30 minutes, scared, traumatized and freezing,” said Herbert.
To make things worse, the adults who were supposed to be protecting K.S. from bullies, lied to the police about what happened. With K.S. freezing outside, they called 911 and told the operator the boy had gone missing. “They said that this kid ran out of the school,” said Herbert.
Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Emily Bolton told Fox 59 that the security guard has been terminated and that the district is investigating the school’s principal. “These allegations are deeply disturbing, and we are fully committed to holding accountable any adult whose actions could have endangered a student,” said Bolton.
School staffers apparently believed that K.S. had instigated a fight with another student, but the complaint alleges that K.S. was simply defending himself. In fact, said K.S.’s family and their attorney, K.S. has been the victim of bullying since he arrived at the school as a transfer student.
“[He] was an outsider and he was different,” said Herbert. “He was not a hard kid. He was a sweet young boy.”
Herbert said K.S. had gone to a number of school officials, including his counselor and the school principal, to report the bullying. Not only did staffers ignore the boy’s complaints, they were annoyed by them.
“The school didn’t like the fact that [K.S.] was making complaints,” said Herbert. “The school, the principal didn’t like the fact that his mother and his grandparents were doing what they’re supposed to do, and that is, hold the school accountable.”
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