Racial slurs hurled at KY student for months before he was beaten unconscious, lawsuit says
Racial slurs and violent threats were hurled at a Paintsville High School student for months before he was beaten unconscious at school, his parents alleged in a federal lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Pikeville.
The student’s family ultimately moved to Georgetown, two hours away in Central Kentucky, partly as a result of the problems he had at Paintsville High, according to the lawsuit.
Audra “Kat” Johns and Robert Johns, as parents and guardians of a student identified in the lawsuit only as “RJ,” filed the lawsuit against Paintsville High School Principal Tiffany Austin, Paintsville High School Vice-Principal Tommy Poe, Paintsville High School teacher Rory Bialecki and the Paintsville school board.
Paintsville Independent Superintendent David Gibson did not immediately comment Tuesday.
“What happened was appalling. This should not happen in Kentucky schools,” Benjamin T.D. Pugh, one of the attorneys for RJ’s family, told the Herald-Leader. “RJ endured months of bullying, culminating in a violent event that left permanent injuries.
Kat Johns is Latina and of Mexican descent and is a Catholic, as is her son, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit details repeated alleged incidents perpetrated by students in which both of them endured verbal attacks, including racial and ethnic slurs, and even alleges RJ was assaulted and school officials failed to act to prevent further incidents.
Kat Johns worked as an employment specialist at Paintsville High School and was assigned to spend her first period working in the school’s administrative office, the lawsuit said.
From Aug. 31, 2022, through Dec. 7, 2022, RJ received various threats from students at Paintsville High School, including threats to hurt him and Johns, according to the lawsuit.
At one point, the students threatened RJ to “burn his house down” and to “crucify his cats,” the lawsuit says.
These threats were reported to Austin, the principal, who notified school resource officer Zach Stapleton who apparently had the Paintsville Police Department provide extra patrol around the Johns’ home, according to the complaint.
About Aug. 31, 2022, Johns was cleaning the cafeteria between lunch periods when she asked a student who had entered the cafeteria, identified only as “BL” in the complaint, to wait in the hallway, according to the lawsuit.
BL left the cafeteria. Once he was in the hallway he screamed, cursed and called Johns a name, according to the suit.
Johns admonished BL for cursing at her but took no other disciplinary measures, the lawsuit said.
On or about Aug. 31, 2022, BL repeatedly cursed at RJ while making derogatory comments toward RJ and Johns, which included calling RJ a racial slur and calling Johns various vulgar names, according to the lawsuit.
Austin told Johns they were keeping a record of all incidents involving BL and would note it.
Lawsuit: Threats escalated, leading to assault
On or about Sept. 1, 2022, several kids at the lunch table with RJ harassed RJ with comments about his mother, according to the lawsuit. A handful of boys involved were identified as “BL,” “DK,” “JV” and “PC.”
The boys suggested that she “rolled across the border,” the lawsuit alleges.
The bullying and harassment allegedly continued over the next three months, the lawsuit says.
In September 2022, boys surrounded RJ at a home football game. While in the student section, another student told RJ that BL was carrying a knife and warned RJ that he was going to get stabbed, the lawsuit alleges. He called his mother.
The insults, harassment and bullying included racial and ethnic comments and comments about RJ’s Roman Catholic religion continued daily through September 2022, including abusive text messages in a class group chat, according to the lawsuit.
On or about Sept. 19, 2022, Johns informed Austin of the harassment RJ was experiencing. She provided details about the racial and ethnic slurs and religious comments, but Austin did not take investigate or take disciplinary action, the lawsuit alleged.
Johns and RJ explained to Austin once again that RJ was being called a litany of racial and ethnic slurs.
Austin suggested RJ physically confront his bullies and she would “look the other way” if he did so, according to the lawsuit.
RJ said he was not comfortable doing that because he feared getting in trouble and facing other adverse consequences, the lawsuit says.
Poe, the vice principal, was also aware of the bullying and racial, ethnic and religious harassment RJ was enduring, the suit says.
On or about Dec. 7, 2022, a student identified as “JV” knocked RJ to the floor, got on top of RJ and threw several punches which connected with RJ’s face and body, according to the complaint. He also choked RJ during the assault, and RJ was knocked unconscious.
Two boys, identified as SB and DS, were present in the room and took video, according to the lawsuit.
JV was charged with second-degree assault, a felony, in Johnson County District Court, and he pleaded guilty to the charge. As part of his sentence, he enrolled at an academy for teens.
RJ suffered a severe concussion and double vision as a result of the attack, inhibiting his ability to learn and play baseball.
He required surgery to address the issues with his vision and broken orbital floor in his left eye, and may never regain full vision in his left eye, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of money to compensate RJ and his family and punish the defendants. Pugh and Christopher D. Roach, another Covington attorney, filed the lawsuit for the family.
“The school failed to protect him and made things worse, even going so far as to encourage that he respond with violence,” Pugh said of RJ, who has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and post-concussion syndrome.
RJ is continuing to adjust to a new school, but “is still struggling with the aftermath of what he endured,” Pugh said.
Reporter Bill Estep contributed to this story.
This story was originally published October 10, 2023 at 10:29 AM.