DOE Failed To Protect Students From Sexual Assaults, Lawsuit Alleges

A new lawsuit filed this week accuses the NYC Department of Education of failing to protect students against sexual assaults, file official complaints, conduct proper investigations, and support survivors dealing with trauma.

News Story (New York)

Jessica Gould
WNYC (NY)
April 30, 2019
READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Tags: Sexual Assault, Title IX

Organizations mentioned/involved: Legal Services NYC (LSNYC)

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DETAILS

Legal Services NYC filed the suit on behalf of four girls, ages 12 to 18, who are all New York City public school students of color with disabilities. The allegations included two rapes as well as repeated harassment spanning years. In all four cases, the suit said, students reported incidents to school officials multiple times. Yet school officials did not protect students from accelerating harassment or provide appropriate post-trauma support, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

“We wanted to bring this lawsuit not only to address the pervasive sexual assault in NYC schools but the failure of the schools to address the trauma and its impact on students’ mental and emotional health,” said Katrina Feldkamp, Equal Justice Works Fellow, sponsored by The Arnold & Porter Foundation at Bronx Legal Services.