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Thursday, Jul. 03, 2008

Mother sues Fayette schools over alleged bullying

A mother who says her daughter was bullied for two years has sued five Fayette school board employees because she said they failed to prevent the alleged harassment.

A lawsuit filed by Denise Jones says her daughter was bullied by fellow students at Southern Middle School from August 2006 to May 2008. Her lawyer, J. Dale Golden of Lexington, said the bullying caused the girl so much mental anguish that she had to check into a hospital for a few days.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Fayette Circuit Court, only identifies the student as Jane Doe.

The defendants named in the suit are Superintendent Stu Silberman, Principal Kelli Miller and three other employees.

The lawsuit states that the school refused Jones' repeated requests to have her daughter moved into different classes.

Golden did not know whether the students involved were disciplined since such records are private.

“If they were, it certainly did not get the job done,” Golden said.

In one incident, the bullies either photographed or video recorded the girl's younger sister getting punched in the face by another bully, the lawsuit said.

A school board spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.