After her daughter was allegedly assaulted by a dance teacher at Fleming Middle School, a mother is now suing Houston Independent School District, claiming campus administration failed to address the situation appropriately.
Mom LaNita Milligan is taking legal action against Houston ISD, claiming that a teacher assaulted her daughter. Milligan has hired attorney Tanika Solomon to file a lawsuit against both the district and the school over the alleged assault.
According to Solomon, the student claims that her dance teacher placed her in a chokehold, wrapping her arms around the girl’s throat, and took her to the ground while on school property. Milligan says she was informed of the incident when her daughter returned home last Thursday and immediately went to speak with campus administration the following Friday morning. The first person Milligan spoke to was the dance teacher herself.
In an interview with KPRC 2, Milligan explained, “I spoke with the dance teacher, and she said to me, ‘Well, I’m not going to apologize for what I did because I didn’t hurt her. I asked her was she hurt physically. She said she wasn’t hurt.’ And I said, ‘Well, what would possess you to put your arms around her neck and put her to the floor? And she said, ‘I felt like she wasn’t taking this seriously because she was laughing at the situation.’ And I said, that still doesn’t warrant you putting your hands on my child.”
After speaking with one of the deans, Milligan reportedly left the school, reassured that the incident would be addressed.
Milligan also mentioned she “spoke to the principal and the police officer, I showed them a video and told them what happened, and they had my daughter write a statement.”
Despite her conversations with campus administration, the family’s lawyer claims that the teacher was allowed to remain on campus and even harassed the student. The lawyer has said that the teacher specifically told other students that the victim was going to get her into trouble, causing the other members of the dance team to ostracize the girl.
After further investigation, including statements from Milligan and her daughter, several students have come forward with complaints about the same teacher.
As of Wednesday, the teacher has reportedly been removed from campus, and the district has become involved, sending an investigator to interview other students about the incident. Houston ISD has confirmed that they are aware of the allegations and have placed the teacher on leave pending an investigation.
