NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - A New York City school faces a lawsuit that complains a kindergarten student was expelled after her parents complained she was physically abused.
The parents sued Our Lady of Loudes School on March 23 in New York County Supreme Court, naming the Archdiocese of New York as a co-defendant. The suit is on behalf of a girl identified as D.N.
"Rather than investigate the situation thoroughly, the principal and regional superintendent of the school quickly found blame in the student's parents for filing a complaint against their teacher and expelled the student from the school altogether, together with her older brother who was a fifth-grader at the school," the suit says.
The suit says D.N. was assaulted on March 9 by her teacher, who is not licensed to be a teacher by the city or state. Unlicensed teachers are hired by the school fi they are referred by a union of teachers endorsed by the Archdiocese, the suit says.
At home that night, D.N. winced when her mom touched her arm, the suit says. D.N. said the teacher pinched and twisted her arm and slammed her into a chair because D.N. was playing with another student during class.
A two-day investigation by the New York Police Department produced no charges. The school expelled the two children as a result of the parents' complaints, the suit says.
Brandon Schwartz is representing the plaintiffs.