Ohio School Sued After Staff Worker Allegedly Forced Black Child to Eat Waffles That Were Dumped in Trash Can

A Black child was allegedly forced to eat waffles that were dumped in a trash can. 

On Dec. 8, the mother of a student who attends Palm Elementary School filed a lawsuit against the institution in connection to an incident that took place on Nov. 21. According to the mother, her daughter was forced to eat waffles that had been taken out of the trash. 

The mother says her daughter told the school’s principal that she “did not like the waffles” and “asked for a different meal.” In addition, the principal told the girl to “finish what was on her tray.” Instead, the girl threw out the remaining waffles.

The lawsuit states that another school staff member took the waffles out of the garbage and forced the girl to finish eating them. “In this instance, the Lorain City School District has failed,” said Jared Klebanow, who is representing the mother. 

The legal doc states that the child felt “frightened and embarrassed” after the incident and has now taken up mental health treatments. “The child is afraid of their school, doesn’t want to eat lunch at school,” Klebanow said. “I think she will have trouble trusting educators and administrators moving forward.” The suit goes on to say that the child’s constitutional rights were violated. 

In a statement, the school district said staff members involved in the incident had been placed on paid administrative leave. 

“District authorities responded in accordance with board policy and past practice by placing any staff member who could potentially be involved in incidents of this serious nature on immediate paid administrative leave, pending an investigation,” the district said in a statement provided to WJW, adding that they expect the investigation to be completed next week.