Thursday, April 01, 2010
School districts across America may now have to be more vigilant about student bullying and harassment in the wake of a landmark court case in Michigan. Hudson Area Schools has been ordered to pay a former student $800,000 for ignoring Dane Patterson’s repeated complaints about students who taunted and subjected him to humiliating behavior.
Patterson said the bullying began in middle school and escalated during high school. He was shoved into lockers and called “faggot,” and a teammate on the school baseball team rubbed his genitals in Patterson’s face.
Glenn Stutzky, a Michigan State University instructor and an expert on bullying, told the Detroit Free Press the verdict will have “implications across the nation.” The case is especially significant because school officials did take some action, including expelling the baseball player who sexually assaulted Patterson.
In a related case, a 15-year-old Irish immigrant girl, Phoebe Prince, committed suicide after being taunted repeatedly by her classmates at South Hadley High School in western Massachusetts. That situation has resulted in a local prosecutor bringing criminal charges against nine teenagers.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Court Awards Bullied Student $800,000 (by Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki, Detroit Free Press)
East Lansing Advocate: Jury Award Should Impact Bullying (by Kathleen Lavey, Lansing State Journal)
Jury Awards $800K to Victim of "Pattern of Bullying" (by Julie Edgar, On Point News)
David Patterson and Dena Paterson v. Hudson Area Schools and Kathy Malnar (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit) (pdf)
Anger Turns Toward Staff in Bullying Case (by Peter Schworm and Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe)
9 Teenagers Are Charged After Classmate’s Suicide (by Erik Eckholm and Katie Zezima, New York Times)
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