A Queens teacher won a $125,000 city settlement for injuries caused by out-of-control teens who also harassed her racially and sexually while school leaders did nothing to stop it, she says.
Kathy Perez suffered five herniated discs in her back, two in her neck and a torn meniscus in two incidents at MS 72 Catherine and Count Basie in Jamaica about 18 months apart.
In the first case, teens racing around the room trampled her. In the second, a girl shoved her to the floor. Both times, ambulance workers removed Perez on a stretcher.
In between, administrators shrugged off multiple frightening incidents, Perez told The Post.
“These kids knew they could beat on me all they wanted, and the administration would tacitly encourage it by not doing anything about it,” Perez said. “In no other workplace would I be expected to take this as part of my day.”
MS 72 struggles with discipline problems and low student achievement. In school surveys, kids have complained of bullying.
Perez says several kids taunted and threatened her as they spewed X-rated profanity. They called her “white bitch,” pelted her with pencils, and tossed rocks as she walked to her car, warning that she would “get shot” and “get my ass kicked.”
Among the reports she filed:
- One boy ran around class waving a collapsible cane, narrowly missing students and swinging it close to Perez’s head. A dean removed the boy for several minutes and “then sent him back in — with the cane.”
- Three boys unscrewed table legs, slammed them on desks and swung them at each other and at the teacher while kids screamed.
“Repeated pleas for help went unanswered,” Perez said. - One girl sprayed perfume in Perez’s face. The same girl taped sanitary pads colored with red markers around the room, shouting at Perez: “Nobody wants to see your nasty period on the wall, dumbass!”
- A boy climbed on a table and “pretended to hump his backpack,” telling Perez, “You know you want it so drop your pants. I’m gonna give it to you hard.”
Her attempts to control the hooligans met with accusations of racism.
“‘It’s because I have a flat top (haircut) and I’m black you f—in’ racist,” she quoted a boy she told to sit down.
Principal Omotayo Cineus testified at a deposition that she removed offending students from the classroom.
“Children were spoken to and parents were spoken to,” Cineus said.
But Perez said nobody responded to her reports. “I have no evidence that anything was done,” she said, adding that students returned to her room and the harassment worsened.
Cineus even slapped Perez with a disciplinary letter after her two children sent an e-mail to the principal saying they were worried about their mom. Cineus called it “inappropriate communication with superiors.”
She did not return a call for comment.
Perez, who underwent back and knee surgeries, filed two lawsuits against the Department of Education in 2012 and 2013, one in state court alleging personal injury, the other a federal civil-rights case.
She settled in April for the $125,000 payment, which includes her lawyer’s fees, and now works in other schools.