NJ teacher forced 7-year-old student to eat lunch outside in the depths of winter: lawsuit

A teacher forced a 7-year-old New Jersey boy to eat his lunch outside in the February cold as punishment, according to a shocking lawsuit.The second-grader at Belleville Public School 4 spent his lunch period in the parking lot after he was accused of mocking his teacher, his family said in the Essex County Superior Court complaint.But the boy was merely repeating what his teacher was saying, not mocking, his family insisted.When the parents reported the “extreme” punishment, their concerns fell on deaf ears, they claimed.The boy had to contend with other bullies too.In October 2023, the boy broke his nose after he tripped and fell while running from another student who pulled his pants down, the suit claimed.And staffers “constantly reprimanded” him the amount of time he took in the bathroom, despite the school knowing he suffered from chronic constipation, the family claimed.The “severe and pervasive bullying, harassment and intimidation” left the boy with “substantial emotional and psychological harm,” said the family, which is not identified in the legal filing.

The boy was a target because of his Hispanic heritage, and the digestion issues, his parents said in court papers.After his parents asked about the draconian lunchtime punishment, teachers retaliated by giving the boy bad grades, his family said.“To this date there has been no explanation of the grades change,” the family said in legal papers.

“It was a retaliation for raising the abusive conduct in the school and for raising the retaliation against her child.”The lawsuit — which seeks unspecified damages — alleges the school, the teacher, the township and the Belleville Board of Education contributed to the “institutional” abuse.The name of the accused educator is redacted in the suit.Neither the attorney for the family nor the Belleville Schools superintendent returned messages.

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