Federal suit against Lakeview dismissed

Lawsuit claims student was strip searched and interrogated about his religion and home life

YOUNGSTOWN -- A federal lawsuit against the Lakeview Local School District, alleging discrimination against a 10-year-old student because of his religion, has been dismissed.

According to U.S. District Court records, both parties in the complaint by Nail Majid and Amany Ahmad against the school district, the school board, a nurse, a teacher and a student teacher had filed motions to dismiss the case without prejudice. U.S. District Judge Benita Y. Pearson signed off on the dismissal in an entry filed Nov. 23.

In the lawsuit, the couple had claimed that on Nov. 2, 2018, their then 10-year-old son, was subjected at school to a strip search and interrogation about his religion, home life and his love of America.

Their son is of Palestinian heritage and is Muslim.

The complaint had alleged recklessness by the adults involved, as well as conspiracy to cover up the event, as the boy was falsely imprisoned and had his civil and constitutional rights violated, the suit claimed. It had sought damages to be determined at trial.

In a court filing dated in December 2019, the school district denied most of the allegations.

Neither Lakeview's attorneys from the Hanna, Campbell & Powell firm of Akron, nor the plantiff's representatives from the Harvey & Abens law firm of Middleburg Heights, responded to this newspaper's request for comment.

According to the complaint, a student teacher began questioning why the boy looked sad, then removed him from the classroom.

The student teacher began asking the boy "inappropriate questions that appeared to gauge his religious and spiritual convictions and his level of patriotism toward the United States of America, ostensibly to determine if he, or his family, was a religious zealot or fanatic that was a threat to domestic security," according to the complaint.

The questions included what religion is he, does he believe in God, does he believe in Heaven, does he love America, had any of his relatives died, does he love his friends, and does he love his school?

The complaint states that the boy was released back to his classroom after being held against his will in a private, windowless room, missing his lunch period.

The complaint also stated the boy has been under the care of medical professionals for significant emotional trauma as "continued exposure to his tormentors worsened and exacerbated (the boy's) mental and physical issues that originated due to the initial Nov. 2 strip search and related racially and religious-based questioning."

gvogrin@tribtoday.com