Following incidents of racial discord between African American, and Hispanic students, the Vice Principal punished all of the 15 Hispanic students in a bilingual class by making them eat lunch on the cafeteria floor for 2 weeks according to Lawyer Alan Schorr.
The incident took place with fifth grade students in Camden New Jersey in 2008.
Why were the students punished?
According to Lawyer Alan Schorr the fifth graders were disciplined after one child spilled water as he tried to lift a jug onto a cooler.
The courierpostonline said that the woman who enforced the punishment Theresa Brown, was reassigned to another school. Brown, now a vice principal at Camden High School, could not be reached for comment.
A review by the state Department of Education concluded Brown who is an African American did not punish the students as a result of racism. Brown said that she had the children sit on the floor because of a lack of adequate seating for the children who are of Puerto Rican decent.
After all of the fee’s and legal issues are settled the $500,000 the 7 students who filed the lawsuit will split $280,000, which works out to $31,428 each. Eight students out of the class of 15 did not file a lawsuit.
