GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — A counselor in the Grand Prairie Independent School District says she was forced to resign for reporting an incident in which a teacher allegedly called a student with special needs a "dumb" N-word, pulled a chair from beneath the student and stepped on him, according to a new lawsuit filed in Dallas County.
The incident described in the lawsuit, which was filed last week, happened on May 18, 2022.
The lawsuit did not say what school the incident happened at or how old the involved student was. It also did not name the teacher accused in the allegations.
In response to the lawsuit, district officials said they were unaware of the lawsuit and that the counselor to whom the incident was reported, Gabriana Clay-White, resigned from the district on June 3, 2022.
The district did not provide additional information on the situation, saying that, in order to do so, it needed "the permission of the individual involved because it involves her personnel file."
Clay-White, the former counselor suing the district, was a guidance counselor who was asked to "assist a teacher with a student who had special needs," the lawsuit said. When Clay-White asked the student what happened, the student said the teacher "took my chips and she's dumb" in reference to the teacher, according to the lawsuit. The teacher then approached the student, the lawsuit said, and replied, "Oh I'm dumb?" before pulling the student's chair out from beneath them, and causing the student to fall to the ground.
"The teacher then used racial slur toward the student saying 'only dumb [n-word] in this room is the one with the blue shirt who can’t read,''' the lawsuit said while claiming that the student in question was wearing a blue shirt on the day of the incident and that he suffers from a reading-related learning disability.
The lawsuit said the teacher then pulled the student's chair from beneath them again, at which point Clay-White intervened and took the student out of the classroom. At that point, the lawsuit claims, the student took a swing at the teacher.
The student missed, but fell to the ground, and the teacher then put her boot on the student's chest "and pushed down," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said the teacher then followed the student and the counselor into the hallway, telling the student, "The only b---- is your mom."
The next day, the suit said, Clay-White reported the incident to school officials, and then to Child Protective Services.
One day later, on May 20, 2022, Clay-White said she was called into a meeting with human resources to provide a third statement about what happened.
Per the lawsuit, human resources told Clay-White on June 2, 2022, that she had violated the ethics code and could either resign or get fired. The counselor chose to "resign under duress," according to the lawsuit.
Clay-White is seeking damages, including back pay, in the lawsuit.
Other local news:
