Bullying lawsuit draws national attention
Posted on Tuesday, March 25, 2008
A Fayetteville High School student's recent lawsuit against other students over alleged bullying is drawing national attention.
The publicity is not flattering.
A news column titled "A Boy the Bullies Love to Beat Up, Repeatedly "by longtime reporter Dan Barry was published Monday on the front page of The New York Times describing how Billy Wolfe, now 16, says he has been bullied since he was 12.
Wolfe said in an interview Monday with the Northwest Arkansas Times that he just wants "to get kids to leave me alone and stop bullying me. "He said he has tried telling school officials about the bullying, but that did not work.
"I tried and they don't do anything," Wolfe said. "Kids just keep doing it."
Fayetteville school officials said the national news story painted an unfair and unflattering picture of the school district, based on selected facts largely from the allegations of Wolfe's family. They say they have followed policy in addressing each complaint. Billy Wolfe; his mother, Penney; and their attorney, Westbrook Doss; are scheduled to fly to New York City today for appearances on NBC's "Today," CNN and ABC's pr ime-time news show," 20 / 20," Doss said. The story is expected to air Wednesday morning on "Today"and Wednesday afternoon on CNN. Doss said he does not know when "20 / 20 "will air its report. "This thing has really taken a life of its own," he said. "It has really struck a chord. "Doss said his client is considering filing a lawsuit against the school district alleging that district officials failed to protect Billy Wolfe from being bullied by other students. Fayetteville Superintendent Bobby New said the district has been contacted by several national news outlets seeking comment on the situation, but the district will not comment because of the possibility of litigation. "I hate that we have this sort of national attention drawn to what I believe is a world-class school district," New said.
Recent lawsuit filed Billy and Penney filed a lawsuit March 6 in Washington County against one high school student who was specifically identified and others listed in court documents only as John Does. The Wolfes allege that Billy Wolfe was assaulted on or around March 9, 2007, by another student as Wolfe tried to leave one of his classes at Woodland Junior High School. They also allege that sometime in March 2007 students began attempting to solicit others to harm Wolfe using a Web page on the social networking site Facebook. com. Bullying students online, known as cyberbullying, is a violation of school policy and state law. Students set up a Facebook page titled "Every One Hates Billy Wolfe. " "That just really made me mad," Wolfe said Monday. Wolfe was also harassed last year by students writing obscene and crude comments about him in junior high school textbooks, Doss said. Wolfe seeks damages for medical expenses, mutilation, impaired physical and mental abilities, pain and suffering, mental anguish, punitive damages, attorneys fees, court costs and other relief. Local news published after the lawsuit was filed "did put a chill"on the bullying that Wolfe has endured, Doss said.
Other incidents Penney Wolfe said Billy was beat up on the school bus and was suspended from McNair Middle School because school officials did not believe Billy's side of the story. After they later reviewed an onboard video, school officials suspended the other student, she said. He had been attacked by another student earlier that year, she said. In 2006, Billy was beat up outside of school by three students in Gulley Park, he said. Earlier that year, a student at Woodland Junior High School had falsely accused him of killing cats, Penney Wolfe said. In another incident, a student hit Billy and "split his mouth open in class "at Woodland, his mother said. Penney Wolfe said she begged Byron Zeagler, the assistant principal, to call the police. "He said my son got what he deserved," she said. New said that is "absolutely wrong. " "We stand behind our administrators and believe they acted appropriately," New said. School: followed policy New said the school followed its policies. "We have investigated ever y reported incident under our supervision, and we feel comfortable that the school and school district took appropriate disciplinary action," he said.
New disagrees with the Wolfes' claim that the district did nothing to protect Billy Wolfe from bullies.
"We totally disagree with that characterization," New said. "We have responded quickly and appropriately."
The school district is restricted in how it can respond to questions about disciplinary matters because of the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which prohibits schools from releasing most school records to anyone except parents, officials said.
New said he is not as familiar with the McNair incidents because some of the administrators are no longer with the district. District, parent responds "The Fayetteville School District has a long-standing policy of no tolerance for any type of harassment, including bullying," the district said in a statement issued Monday in a reaction to Barry's piece in The New York Times.
"Mr. Barry's story would lead the reader to believe that we ignore student discipline and are insensitive to those students who are harassed," the statement continued. "In fact, student discipline is our constant focus and every incident in which the school has jurisdiction is investigated and due process is afforded all parties involved. However, it is important to note that incidents of this nature often take place off the school campus or outside the school day where the school district does not have jurisdiction. " "I'm appalled at the school's rebuttal," Penney Wolfe said. She said the school district never reported to local police any of the incidents where her son was bullied. She said she has requested and reviewed Fayetteville police records that verify this. New disagrees. "The school resource officer has been on top of this," he said, referring to Fayetteville police officers assigned to the school district. "Parents have to file the reports to pursue criminal charges. "Doss said he is disappointed in the school's response. He said he and the family were forced to file a lawsuit to get someone to take responsibility for what has happened to his client.
Column response The school district has received more than 300 email messages in response to the column in The New York Times, district officials said. The responses were critical of the district and in some cases, threatening, New said. "Some of the very people who are protesting an alleged bullying incident have been bullying the district with the threat of electronic sabotage, lawsuits and the suggestion of physical harm to administrators," New said. Doss said the column resulted in his client receiving monetary pledges from people who support his cause.
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