Lawsuit ends

A federal lawsuit in which two female students charged the Middlesex Borough school district with allowing racist conditions was settled earlier this year, according to a website that reports on New Jersey civil litigation.

TransparencyNJ.com reported on Nov. 7 that a settlement was quietly okayed by the borough school board last spring.

Read the article here:

https://transparencynj.com/2023/11/07/middlesex-borough-school-district-discreetly-paid-out-110000-to-settle-students-claim-that-school-failed-to-address-racially-charged-bullying/

The settlement was approved on May 1, under which the board agreed to a $200,000 payment to two high school students, TransparencyNJ reported. The students had filed a lawsuit claiming they had been subjected to racial slurs by other students and that district officials displayed a “deliberate indifference to student-on-student racial harassment.”

The original suit was filed in March 2022 by one student and later amended to add a second.

TransparencyNJ notes that a settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.

“None of the girls’ allegations have been proven or disproven in court,” the article states. “Settlements typically state that payment does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by the Middlesex school district or any of its employees or officials. All that is known for sure is that the school district or its insurer, for whatever reason, decided that it would rather pay the girls $200,000 than take the matter to trial.”

The female students, who are identified in the suit by their initials D.I. and K.M., alleged they were continually called racial slurs by Caucasian students while attending both Von E. Mauger Middle School and Middlesex High School. K.M. also claimed that students had taunted her about her single-parent household and hairstyle.

The plaintiff-students further alleged that administrators and staff did not halt the bullying by their classmates. The litigation claimed staff routinely failed to complete harassment and bullying training.

Of the $200,000, D.I. received $85,000, K.M. received $70,000 and their lawyer received $45,000, according to TransparencyNJ. Since the two girls are still minors, their shares are being held by the Middlesex County Surrogate’s office.

The TransparencyNJ post includes a link to the lawsuit and settlement order.

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