Federal judge dismisses lawsuit by Morris County dad over white privilege lessons
A Mountain Lakes parent's lawsuit claiming discrimination against his white son by the local school district has been dismissed by a federal court judge after the plaintiffs declined to reveal their names.
U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez said in a ruling on Aug. 8 that the father's federal law claims were "dismissed with prejudice," which means the case cannot be filed in federal court again. And Vazquez ruled that the father's state law claims were "dismissed without prejudice," which means the suit could be filed in a New Jersey court.
The recent ruling came out of Vazquez's previous one on April 18 that within 30 days, the parent and student had to disclose their names instead of using pseudonyms in the federal lawsuit.
The parent, identified as B.L., filed a lawsuit in June 2022 against the Mountain Lakes School District and district officials. The suit claimed that starting on June 6, 2020, the district created a hostile educational environment for his son, identified as J.L., and other students through "a campaign of open racial discrimination."
The suit cited a pamphlet emailed to parents and a video sent to students by then-Mountain Lakes High School Principal Frank Sanchez on that June day, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd.
According to the lawsuit, the pamphlet suggested that institutional racism existed within the school district, in Morris County, without providing "any factual basis" and was "overly political in nature."
The video, according to the complaint, was a "call to arms" and promoted concepts of white privilege. The video also compelled students to attend Black Lives Matter rallies that contributed to the "hostile nature of the video with respect to individuals with so-called white skin," B.L. alleged in the suit.
A month after he filed his lawsuit, the litigant argued in an amended complaint that he had to use initials for himself and his son since they had been "widely identified by their full names in certain social media and other circles" and "faced criticism and certain threats."
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The school district, in its response to the litigation, argued that case law said a person bringing a lawsuit may go forward anonymously only when there's an exceptional situation that outweighs the public interest in a legal dispute.
The district also sought to get the suit dismissed on several grounds. One of them was that the parent lacked standing to sue on behalf of his son, since the son was an adult when the suit was filed but was purportedly a minor during the events outlined in the suit.
B.L. said in a statement issued through his lawyer, Ronald Berruti, that he and his son were disappointed in the ruling and "we appreciate the widespread interest in this case."
Berruti said in a separate statement that no decision had been made on how his client wanted to proceed with this suit. Berruti then said his client "still has a right to appeal" and may consider creating a "public database where those interested can examine the curricula and programming in question so that they may evaluate its proprietary and legality for themselves."
Stephen Fogarty, the lawyer for the defendants, did not return a phone call for comment.
Ricardo Kaulessar is a culture reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Atlantic Region How We Live team. For unlimited access to the most important news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com
Twitter: @ricardokaul
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Mountain Lakes NJ schools lawsuit over white privilege dismissed
