A lunch monitor forced a Black child to eat food out of the trash, which resulted in a civil rights lawsuit.
The disturbing incident, which occurred in early December at Palm Elementary in Lorain, Ohio, was captured on video. The footage shows Monika Sommers-Fridenstine digging through the trash to find the food that the fourth-grader had thrown away moments earlier. Even more shocking, Sommers-Fridenstine then sat next to the child and forced her to eat the food as other children watched and laughed. Principal Deborah Pustulka stood by and did nothing to intervene.
LaTosha Williams, the mother of the young girl, said her daughter simply did not like the waffles, which is why she threw them in the trash. As if things could not get worse, after eating the soiled food, the child fell ill. Williams subsequentially lost her job after staying home to care for her.
On December 16th, Lorain School Board Superintendent Jeff Graham issued a statement announcing that Pustulka and Sommers-Fridenstine had been terminated.
“Our students deserve staff members who are able to make good decisions in all situations, and any staff member who is unable to deliver on that promise is unwelcome in our schools,” the statement read.
Jared Klebanow, the attorney representing the child’s family, strongly feels that the incident was racially motivated since “Hundreds of caucasian children” at the school have thrown their lunches away without repercussion.
In lawsuit docs, the family says that the child’s civil rights were violated. They are seeking unspecific damages.
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