A 16-year-old Black cheerleader and her family sued Cumberland Valley School District, in Pennsylvania, USA over racial discrimination and harassment. The lawsuit is based on an incident that occurred during a national competition trip to Florida in February 2024. According to the lawsuit, the freshman cheerleader was humiliated when teammates forced her to crawl on all fours, pretending to be a white teammate’s “pet.”

Trigger warning: extreme hazing, racism – A Black teenage girl, who has not been publicly identified, was competing as a member of the Cumberland Valley School District cheerleading squad at the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships in Walt Disney World, Florida, in February 2024.

She was reportedly staying in a local hotel when she received a knock on her door. It was a teammate telling her to come to another room where other members had gathered, The Lawton Constitution reported on Monday (November 11).

When Jane Doe walked into the room, she was reportedly made to crawl on all fours, pretending that she was a white senior cheerleader’s “pet” on an imaginary leash.

A 16-year-old Black cheerleader and her family sued Cumberland Valley School District, in Pennsylvania, USA 

Image credits: Freepik

Her teammates took videos and photos of the “humiliating” act, according to Jane Doe’s family’s lawsuit that was reportedly filed on November 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

When the Cumberland cheer squad flew back from Florida to their home state of Pennsylvania, one of the coaches told Jane Doe to keep quiet about what happened to her in the hotel room, the lawsuit stated.

Following the alleged racially motivated attack, Jane Doe confided in Michael Craig, the school’s athletic director, The Daily Mail reported on Thursday (November 14).

After speaking to him in April, two months after the alleged encounter, Craig reportedly said he would look into it, but immediately went silent.

Image credits: Freepik

The lawsuit accused Craig of remaining silent about the alleged incident as “a tacit admission that he knew about the complaint of discriminatory conduct, harassment, and bullying in one of the athletic programs he oversaw.” 

The disturbing alleged hazing episode was not the only time Jane Doe experienced this form of racism, the lawsuit revealed.

Jane Doe’s family subsequently also accused the team’s coaches of discriminating against her based on her identity as a Black student.

Jane Doe’s family is now suing the Cumberland Valley School District and multiple administrators, coaches, and members of the booster club, accusing them of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the student’s equal protection under the 14th Amendment, The Lawton Constitution reported.

They sued over racial discrimination and harassment

 

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In American law, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs that receive federal funding. 

Moreover, the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause requires that all individuals are treated equally under the law, safeguarding against racial discrimination.

According to the lawsuit, coaches “did everything in their power to take away (her) enjoyment of the sport solely because of her race,” and it started when she joined the team in the summer of 2023.

Jane Doe was reportedly told she wasn’t “cheerleader-like” by one of the coaches, despite receiving an award for her “elite” tumbling skills.

 

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The lawsuit further alleged that Jane Doe was often singled out as the person to film all of the competition tournaments, which left her out of many team pictures.

Additionally, the team would allegedly crop Jane Doe out of photographs or “obscure” her in posts on social media. 

When getting on a bus to go to a football game, the Black student was made to wait to get on the bus until her white teammates were “boarded and seated,” according to the lawsuit.

“This call back to the Segregation Era was enforced by coaches and the other cheerleaders,” the lawsuit stated, which alleges these types of acts to have been witnessed by school faculty and officials.

The lawsuit is based on an incident that occurred during a national competition trip to Florida in February 2024

 

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As per the complaint, Jane Doe’s parents started to notice their teen daughter crying when they picked her up from practice before she would eventually start to act “withdrawn” and switch schools.

Jane Doe’s father, only identified as John Doe, reportedly took matters into his own hands and decided to address the matter at a board meeting on May 6, and again on May 20 after he heard nothing back.

A board member, Harold ‘Bud’ Shaffner, then grew aggravated with John Doe and “chased” him in the parking lot “and began threatening him and others,” the lawsuit stated, as per The Mail. 

Shaffner, the husband of Kristi Shaffner, one of the cheerleading coaches, only stopped his antics after other parents pulled out their cell phones to record him, The Mail reported.

The lawsuit read: “Mr. Shaffner also made it inherently clear that if John Doe did not like the racist environment at CVSD, then Plaintiffs were not welcome in the school district.”

The school board then reportedly “refused to investigate” Shaffner’s behavior after the interaction with him and John Doe.

The family has since reportedly demanded a jury trial, and also demanded “judgment in their favor” and against all named defendants, including interest, punitive damages, and the cost of attorneys, the lawsuit said. 

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