PITTSBURGH – A settlement has been reached in a case which alleged that two former students of Butler Wesleyan Academy were subjected to racist and discriminatory treatment based upon their multi-racial heritage.
Gail S. (in her individual capacity and as parent and legal guardian of minor plaintiffs, Jo. S. and Je. S.) of Butler County first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on Sept. 9 versus Butler Wesleyan Academy and Butler Wesleyan Methodist Church of Butler, Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection of Salem, Ohio, plus Paul Fish, Teddy Zeigler, Sally Zeigler, Dennis J. Ballock, Dave Patterson, Curt Field, Kimberly Fish and John/Jane Does, also all of Butler County.
According to the lawsuit, Jo. S. and Je. S. have both East Indian and Jewish heritage and were the only minority students at Butler Wesleyan Academy, and as such, were made to endure a racially hostile environment during their time there.
“Throughout the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic school years, teachers and students at defendant Academy made ethnic and racially hostile statements, slurs and/or threats to and/or about plaintiffs Jo. S. and Je. S. including, but not limited to, statements such as: “What are you?”, “Are you Black?”, “We hate you”, “We hate that you’re here”, “You don’t belong here” and “You’re black trash,” the suit says.
“Teachers, students and administrators at defendant Academy, including defendants T. Zeigler, S. Zeigler, P. Fish and/or K. Fish, on multiple occasions, also referred to plaintiffs Jo. S. and Je. S as “Black” in a way that was intended to embarrass, degrade and/or humiliate the plaintiffs for not being “White.”
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs’ behavior included but was not limited to, minor issues such as not playing with other children at recess and asking a question about the school’s security cameras.
The plaintiff continued that Jo. S. and Je. S. were later indefinitely suspended from the school.
The defendants answered the complaint on Nov. 20, arguing it failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and the decision to indefinitely suspend Jo. S. and Je. S. was due to their “respective conduct which repeatedly violated the School Handbook.”
The school flatly denied that the girls were subject to a racially and/or ethnically hostile educational environment, were denied equal access to education while enrolled at the Academy or that it breached the tuition contract with Gail S.
UPDATE
On March 8, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Judge David S. Cercone announced that a settlement had been reached in the case. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
“It appearing that a settlement has been reached as to all aspects of plaintiff's complaint and the only remaining matter is the submission of a stipulation for settlement and discontinuance; therefore, with no further action being required by the court at this time, the following order is entered: It is ordered that the Clerk of Court mark the above case closed,” Cercone said.
“Nothing contained in this order shall be construed as a final dismissal or disposition of this case and should further proceedings in it become necessary, any party may initiate the appropriate course of action in the same manner as if this order had not been entered. Jurisdiction is retained over the completion and enforcement of the settlement agreement.”
In the following days, Cercone signed orders granting dismissal of the minor plaintiffs Jo.S. and Je.S. and individual defendants Paul Fish, Teddy Zeigler, Sally Zeigler, Dennis J. Ballock, Dave Patterson, Curt Field and Kimberly Fish, only, with prejudice, with each party to bear its own costs.
The plaintiffs were represented by Joel S. Sansone, Elizabeth Tuttle and Massimo A. Terzigni of the Law Offices of Joel Sansone, in Pittsburgh.
The defendants were represented by Adam M. Barnes of Walsh Barnes Collis & Zumpella, also in Pittsburgh, plus Katherine Fitz-Patrick and David R. Dye of Ball Murren & Connell, in Camp Hill.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case 2:20-cv-01353
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com