A settlement was reached this week by a Yerington family who say their two teen daughters were racially harassed in school during the school year.
According to the filed federal complaint, the daughters of Charles Tolliver and Nancy Marriott Tolliver, who are African-American, were the target of repeated racial taunting and threats starting in August of last year - and continuing for months.
The suit alleged that despite the harassment on campus along with threats of violence against the students posted on social media, Lyon County School District and Yerington High School officials "exhibited deliberate indifference to the racial harassment of the girls... by responding ineffectively and or failing to respond in a manner that effectively stopped the discriminatory harassment."
The suit also alleged the Yerington Police Department shredded police reports, saying the threats made on social media were protected by the First Amendment.
The girls' lawyer says the alleged racism violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by the Lyon County School District and the City of Yerington.
The lawsuit said the girls identified 22 individual harassers.
Lawyers for the family say Yerington High School officials agreed to 1) consult with racial harassment experts from the Department of Education; 2) lift the trespass order against Charles Tolliver; 3) permanently remove the suspension of Jayla Tolliver from her educational record; and 4) pay for one year of mental health counseling for both girls.
After the settlement -
Jayla Tolliver stated:
I would like to thank everyone who had our back and listened when no one would, through this long painful experience. I learned that you should never let your voice be unheard even when people turn their backs and tell you to lower your voice. Racism is something I never thought I’d go through. Racism is also something many people have done nothing about, but I am proud to say that I am one of the few who stood up when my race was an issue to others. I will always look back on this tragedy knowing that it made me the strong African-American woman I am today! Racism is something that I knew went on through the world but for a long time I forgot it existed. I cannot dream about having so much hate for another group of people because of their skin color yet there are people all over the world who find people of color disgusting and repulsive because we are different but don’t realize how beautiful and unique we are because we are different. I hope that our story inspires others. Always remember no matter where you are from, what you look like, how different you talk, or how you walk we are all equal.
Taylissa Marriott stated:
I just wanted to start off saying my sister Jayla and I are so thankful. I would never in a million years believe we would have to go through what we did. For having you guys say that you are here for us and standing by our sides gave us so much hope that we could fight and overcome all the horrific behavior. In the beginning we didn’t realize how much of a change we have made and by us being some of the many to stand up and let their voice be heard made me feel that we did change the way people judge and look at someone before they actually know them. But I want to say a BIG thank you to Swope Middle School for being some of the biggest supporters and some of the first to reach out to my sister and me.
Charles and Nancy Tolliver stated:
First and foremost, we would like to thank Terri Keyser-Cooper and Kerry Doyle for believing in our daughters to take on this case. We want to thank the NAACP, especially Lonnie Feemster and the Galimore’s for standing by us. Thank you to Kevin McReynolds, you have inspired our daughters to be even greater. Thank you to Bob, Theo, Jody and the whole PLANN Action organization for your support. We stood up for justice and what was right, we needed to fight for change and I feel we have won this justice for our daughters. And a huge thank you to Siobhan McAndrews for your professionalism, compassion and friendship throughout this whole ordeal.
The family was represented by Terri Keyser-Cooper and Kerry Doyle. The lawyers said: “We are grateful that almost immediately the parties got together to begin working out solutions. It was not quite kumbaya, but we believe the school district will make efforts to be responsible and conscientious in the future. Just recently another incident occurred at the school, it was reported, the school investigated, and the parents were informed of an appropriate outcome. It is deeply regretful that two 15-year-old girls would attend a local high school for six months and then require a full year of therapy. We are also hopeful both the Yerington police and Yerington high school officials will in the future be more sensitive, compassionate, and responsive should racist behavior again occur.”
The Lyon County School District previously sent us this statement:
The Lyon County School District (LCSD) holds student/staff safety as their number one priority and takes all safety matters very seriously. All reported matters are thoroughly investigated and appropriate consequences are provided per NRS and LCSD Policy. In addition, appropriate safety plans are
immediately implemented to ensure that all students have a safe and respectful learning environment. The LCSD has learned through media sources that a lawsuit has been filed against them, although the LCSD is not yet in receipt of any document. Unfortunately, the LCSD is unable to provide specific
comment on pending litigation.
Disclaimer - some of the language in the below document may be unsuitable for some readers
