The mother of Jacob Letourneau-Elsharkawy says her son committed suicide at age 15 after being bullied relentlessly during school.
Now the Council on American Islamic Relations is filing a federal lawsuit against the Chisago Lakes School District in Minnesota saying it failed to address the issue, reported KSTP, despite months of verbal and physical attacks.
His mother told the Sahan Journal her son would be called “terrorist” and “bomber man” by other students because he is Muslim. He also suffered from ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The lawsuit alleges the district failed to accommodate his disability and actually disciplined him for it, causing his mental health to deteriorate.
“They go to school for eight hours a day,” his mother Faith Elsharkawy said to the Journal. “As parents, we expect them to be safe in that environment.”
Her attorneys also say the district has not made any changes to its anti-bullying policy since Jacob’s death in April 2018.
According to the lawsuit, students pushed Jacob through a metal door frame, causing him to suffer a concussion. The District would later dismiss the incident as “fooling around” and one friend being “too aggressive.”
The lawsuit also alleges a student choked Jacob on a school bus in 2017 and another punched him, ripping his clothes and hair off a month later.
“Jacob’s absence is a hole in their lives and our student body that cannot be filled,” the district said in a statement to KSTP. “The district denies the statements made in the press release related to bullying. The Minnesota Department of Education carefully examined the district’s actions and in April of 2019, determined that the District complied with all applicable laws and policies related to bullying.”
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The district did NOT do enough do protect Jacob.