Lawsuit claims LPS failed to respond swiftly to incidents of assault, sexual harassment

• Jenna Ebbers – Jan 31, 2024 – Lincoln Journal Star

My cmnt: If any of this is true a lot of heads should roll.

A lawsuit filed against Lincoln Public Schools and two staff members at Schoo Middle School alleges the district failed to appropriately address incidents of assault and sexual harassment last school year.

The lawsuit claims that a student, referred to as J.M., “suffered serious emotional distress and interference with his education” following two incidents that occurred at the school in March and May of 2023.

LPS received information regarding the complaint Tuesday, according to Jim Gessford, an attorney who represents the district.

“LPS takes all reports about safety concerns very seriously and we will work with staff to review information surrounding the reported incident,” he said in an email.

According to the lawsuit, in mid-March, J.M. came home from school with marks and bruises on his neck. A video on J.M.’s phone was later discovered by his mother showing students sticking a fork into an outlet during class. He then admitted that a few weeks earlier students had held him down and prodded him with part of an outlet, attempting to shove it into his mouth.

The same students had also previously held him down, thrown objects at his genitals and choked him, the lawsuit states.

J.M.’s mother then reported the incident to the school principal and was told the perpetrator would be removed from his class. However, according to the lawsuit, the student was never actually removed.

More than a month later, in May, the principal informed J.M.’s mother of another assault, occurring in the same classroom. It was reported that the same student who was previously said to be removed from J.M.’s class had exposed himself to J.M. and rubbed his penis on his face while in class with a teacher present.

The lawsuit claims that LPS failed to respond to each situation immediately and effectively, leading J.M. to suffer emotional damages and lose his right to a public education and his right to be free of sexual harassment and assault.

“Defendants, acting under color of law, violated these rights by failing to investigate or put an end to the known harassment and assault of J.M.,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit asks for an unspecified amount of money to cover legal fees and to compensate J.M. for these damages.