{"id":28210,"date":"2016-06-18T13:22:05","date_gmt":"2016-06-18T17:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=28210"},"modified":"2016-06-18T13:22:05","modified_gmt":"2016-06-18T17:22:05","slug":"lawsuit-students-wrapped-rope-around-black-girls-neck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=28210","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit: students wrapped rope around black girl\u2019s neck"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt looked like somebody ripped my daughter\u2019s neck off and stitched it back together,\u201d says the mother of the girl from Waco, Tex., who was on a school trip when she was injured.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Source: Lawsuit Says Texas Students Wrapped Rope Around Black Girl\u2019s Neck – The New York Times<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This headline looked so compellingly awful, I read the whole article.<\/p>\n

And monitored my own reactions. Which shifted back and forth as I read. Here’s how the story begins:<\/p>\n

A private school in Texas has been sued for more than $3 million by the family of a black girl who accused three white classmates of wrapping a rope around her neck and dragging her to the ground during a school trip \u2014 leaving her with severe rope burns and a mark that looked like a necklace.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyers for the girl, who is identified in court papers filed on Monday only as K.P., said evidence suggested that race played a role in the episode, which occurred during an overnight outing in April by students from the Live Oak Classical School<\/a> in Waco. The girl was 12 at the time.<\/em><\/p>\n

But while lawyers for the girl and the school agree that something happened to the student, they disagree about virtually everything else \u2014 whether what occurred had been a deliberate act, the severity of her injuries, who was to blame and if race was a motivation.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now this, from the lawyer for the school:<\/p>\n

But David N. Deaconson, a lawyer for the school, said the plaintiffs\u2019 lawyers were exploiting the hot-button issues of race and bullying. He said what had happened to the girl was purely an accident.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone can allege anything they want in a lawsuit no matter how inaccurate they may be,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the case here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

True, that anyone can sue anybody for anything, and I’ve made that point<\/a> many,<\/a> many times.<\/p>\n

What finally put me in the “yes, this rotten thing happened” camp was comparing the large color photographs at the top of the article with this explanation from the school’s lawyer:<\/p>\n

Mr. Deaconson, the school\u2019s lawyer, said he had investigated what happened and gave this account: As many as a dozen children were pulling on the rope to give the swing height, and when they let go, the rope whipped past the girl, hit her in the neck and left her with a rope burn.<\/em><\/p>\n

What??<\/p>\n

I agree with what the girl’s lawyer said a few paragraphs later:<\/p>\n

Mr. McCathern, however, called Mr. Deaconson\u2019s description of what happened \u201ccockamamie.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Indeed. And the odorously condescending comment from the man who owned the property, i.e., a named defendant, on which the incident was alleged to have occurred didn’t help the school’s defense in my mind, either:<\/p>\n

Lawrence L. Germer, the owner of the property where the students went on the trip and a defendant in the suit, said, \u201cFrom any perspective, it\u2019s sad because the little girl got hurt.\u201d But he added that her injuries were the result of \u201cterrible, bad luck\u201d and that the lawsuit misrepresented what had happened.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m concerned that this case will go before a Waco, Texas jury. I wouldn’t take any<\/em> case, especially one that might involve racist bullying, before a Waco jury. I won’t even go to Texas, for any reason whatsoever.<\/p>\n

See what you think.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt looked like somebody ripped my daughter\u2019s neck off and stitched it back together,\u201d says the mother of the girl from Waco, Tex., who was on a school trip when she was injured. Source: Lawsuit Says Texas Students Wrapped Rope … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[41,850,857],"class_list":["post-28210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-news","tag-legal-causes-of-action","tag-parties-to-a-lawsuit","tag-personal-injury-lawsuit"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t