By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-14 03:26:39 | Updated at 2024-11-14 16:10:18
13 hours ago
A group of white cheerleaders forced their black teammate to get on all fours and act like a 'pet' as they recorded the 'humiliating' act, a new lawsuit has revealed.
The student's parents filed a 40-page lawsuit on Thursday against the Cumberland Valley School District - located in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
The legal filing alleges that their daughter, referred to only as Jane Doe 2, faced 'discrimination' and 'bullying' from her fellow teammates, adults, and coaches with the Cumberland Valley High School competitive cheerleading team during a competition trip.
The alleged incident occurred when the team traveled to the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships in Walt Disney World Florida in February 2024, as another cheerleader went to get Jane Doe 2 from her hotel room.
Despite feeling 'reluctant to go,' the student followed her teammate to another room filled with a group of cheerleaders because 'she was peer-pressured into doing so,' the lawsuit, reviewed by DailyMail.com, stated.
The parents of a black cheerleader on the Cumberland Valley High School competitive cheerleading team filed a lawsuit Thursday against the school district after she was allegedly forced to act like a 'pet' on a 'leash' by her white counterparts
When she got there, her fellow teammate, named only as Jane Doe 3, told the black cheerleader to 'get down on all fours and pretend to be an animal' as she 'walked around and had Jane Doe 2' follow her 'as if she was on a leash,' the lawsuit detailed, adding that the act was 'reminiscent of slavery.'
As Jane Doe 2 got on her hands and knees to perform the outrageous act, another one of her teammates recorded her, while Jane Doe 3 - a current senior - insisted she smile for a selfie 'to commemorate the moment,' the lawsuit said.
The filing added that parents and coaches were on the trip as chaperones, and that they 'knew what had been done to Jane Doe 2 in the hotel room.'
One woman, identified as Ms. Pickel, referred to as an 'attack dog for the coaches,' then made sure to sit next to Jane Doe 2 on the plane ride home following the alleged moment.
During the plane ride, Pickel 'interrogated and harassed' the cheerleader', making it 'perfectly clear to her that what happened to her in Florida was not to be revealed to anyone,' including her parents, according to the lawsuit.
Following the alleged traumatic incident, Jane Doe 2 confided in Michael Craig, the school's athletic director.
After speaking to him in April, two months after the alleged encounter, Craig 'said he would look into it, but immediately went silent,' the lawsuit detailed.
The filing added that both parents and coaches were on the trip as chaperones, and that they 'knew what had been done to Jane Doe 2 in the hotel room.' (Pictured: Cumberland Valley High School)
The filing added that Craig remained silent about the alleged incident as 'a tacit admission that he knew about the complained of discriminatory conduct, harassment, and bullying in one of the athletic programs he oversaw.'
The student's father, John Doe, then took matters into his own hands and decided to address the matter at a board meeting on May 6, and again on May 20 after he heard nothing back.
A board member, Harold 'Bud' Shaffner, then grew aggravated with John Doe and 'chased' him in the parking lot 'and began threatening him and others,' the lawsuit added.
Shaffner, the husband of Kristi Shaffner, one of the cheerleading coaches, only stopped his antics after other parents pulled out their cell phones to record him, the filing said.
'Mr. Shaffner also made it inherently clear that if John Doe did not like the racist environment at CVSD, then Plaintiffs were not welcome in the school district,' the documents said.
The school board then 'refused to investigate' Shaffner's behavior after the interaction with him and John Doe, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also detailed other instances where Jane Doe and John Doe witnessed their daughter being upset at the hands of the team.
The filing said her parents often saw her cry when they picked her up from cheer events and practices, that she asked to transfer to a different school or district, 'became saddened, nervous and withdrawn,' and that she stopped 'engaging in activities that she previously enjoyed.'
Her parents also shared that Jane Doe 2 even placed a copy of the 'Serenity Prayer' in her room 'and repeated it as a mantra to get through the racial discrimination, harassment, and bullying she was enduring,' the lawsuit detailed.
In response to the initial bullying and discrimination claims brought forward before the lawsuit, Cumberland School District closed their investigation on it back in October, WHP reported.
In response to the initial bullying and discrimination claims brought forward before the lawsuit, Cumberland School District closed their investigation on it back in October. (Pictured: Dr. Mark A. Blanchard, the Superintendent of Cumberland Valley School District)
According to the lawsuit, the school board 'chose to cover it up' instead of 'fixing their issues with the creation, fostering, and perpetuation of a racially hostile and pro-bullying environment.'
The girl and her parents agree that the schools 'investigation was a sham,' and that the law firm it hired, McNees, Wallace, & Nurick, were only brought in 'to provide the conclusions the Board wanted,' the suit said.
The filing concluded that because of the alleged interaction with her teammates, and those after, Jane Doe 2 has experienced symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, trouble sleeping, and fear of retaliation, among other setbacks.
The parents and their daughter have requested a jury trial, and also 'demand judgment in their favor' and against all named defendants, including interest, punitive damages, and the cost of attorneys, the lawsuit said.
DailyMail.com contacted Dr. Mark A. Blanchard, the Superintendent of Cumberland Valley School District, and the Cumberland Valley Cheerleading team for comment.
