Jul 24, 2008 7:34 pm US/Eastern
Former Lourdes Student Sues School
Sues Archdiocese of Miami and Our Lady of Lourdes Academy
Teen Claims She Was Bullied In School & Online
Also Claims School Ignored Internal Anti-Bullying Policies
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
A South Florida teenager has filed a lawsuit against her private, all-girls school in Miami after she became the victim of an alleged vicious bullying campaign that spread from the classroom to online social networks.
The girl filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Our Lady of Lourdes Academy and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami. She claims her classmates last year verbally and physically taunted her on campus. The bullying escalated into cyber-bullying with the creation of a "hate page" on the social networking site Facebook, according to the lawsuit.
"They made up a bug to call me," she said. "I'd be walking down the hall and they would say, kill the flea, kill the flea, in assembly they would yell kill the flea kill the flea and the administrators were there and never said anything."
The girl, whose identity we are not releasing, says she was a freshman when the problems begun just a few months into the school year. It allegedly started with a small group of girls and has escalated to more than 20 involved. She claims she told the dean and principal and they eventually started to blame her for the problems.
"She told me, one more incident, and i would be expelled," said the alleged victim.
The lawsuit also alleges that despite numerous pleas by the teen's parents to the school counselor and principal, they did little to intervene on the teen's behalf. Among the punishments, the girls responsible were apparently not allowed to attend a formal.
By allowing the bullying to continue, the suit claims, the school and Archdiocese violated its anti-bullying policies.
After six months of threats, taunting and humiliation, both in school and online, the girl dropped out of school.
The lawsuit seeks more than $15,000 in damages.
Mary Ross Agosta, Spokesperson for the Archdioces of Miami said, "Students were suspended because of allegations of bullying, and their punishment did not allow them to attend a social event. So to say the anti-bullying policy was not followed is inaccurate."
The state of Florida does have a recently passed anti-bullying law called The Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act. It was sparked by the suicide of Florida teen Jeffrey Johnston, who was bullied in person and online. The law requires all school districts to have and enforce anti-bullying policies.
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