By Victoria Spilabotte. CREATED 4:37 PM
Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- Sixth grader Makyla Hathorn is smiling in a photo with her mother Sheena, but she wasn't this happy while attending Wynn Elementary School two years ago.
A new lawsuit states Makyla thought she was discriminated against because of her race.
"For a child to come up with that on her own it was shocking for the mother it was shocking for us to hear as well," said Erica Loyd with Kang & Associates.
Loyd is the lead council on the suit filed in federal court last week. It states the bullying started on a school field trip to West Sahara Library where a chaperon "inappropriately yelled, screamed and berated" the girl while falsely accusing her of pushing another student.
"Our client wanted an investigation done and it seems like the principal and vice principal instead of conducting an investigation tried to brush this under the table," attorney Patrick Kang said.
The former school principal is also named in the lawsuit for "extremely malicious and unprofessional" harassment after allegedly telling Makyla she would be moving to another school after the playground incident. Lawyers said that was another false statement that left the girl in tears.
"This could ultimately lead her to no longer respect authority because you have adults abusing power," Loyd said.
The girl's mother has since pulled her from CCSD and sought counseling.
"They would like redress for themselves, their daughter and mental distress she has gone through," Kang said. "As far a school wide system change, something needs to change."
Clark County School District's policy doesn't allow it to comment on pending litigation.
A bullying task force formed last school year is ongoing and a component of that retrains administrators and staff about bullying.
http://www.jrn.com/ktnv/news/CCSD-faces-discrimination-lawsuit-over-students-race-266517201.html
http://www.jrn.com/ktnv/news/CCSD-faces-discrimination-lawsuit-over-students-race-266517201.html