By Sheila Stogsdill
news@joplinglobe.com
GROVE, Okla. — A gay teenager from Wyandotte has sued Grove school officials, alleging in federal court that his civil rights were violated when they failed to provide him with a safe school environment and created a hostile climate that led to assaults and name-calling, his attorney confirmed Friday.
Michale D. Bullis, 19, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma in Tulsa in January. The school board was served papers last week. Bullis was represented by Erik Johnson, a Miami attorney.
Grove Superintendent Tom Steen said on Friday the matter was in litigation and he could not comment.
According to the federal complaint, Bullis claimed he was the target of “severe and pervasive verbal and physical harassment.”
In the complaint, Bullis also alleged that while attending Grove High School, he was routinely subjected to “name-calling and threats of physical harm and death” from 2002 to November 2005.
During one attack by another student on Nov. 8, 2005, in the Grove High School cafeteria, Bullis’ teeth were broken, his lip cut and he was briefly unconscious, according to the complaint.
According to a Grove police report, Bullis was walking in the school when a 16-year-old boy stepped out from a line of students and hit Bullis in the mouth and nose, causing him to fall. One of Bullis’ upper teeth was knocked loose and his bottom lip cut.
The alleged attacker was suspended from school.
In another incident, Bullis also alleged he was attacked by a group of students in 2004 as he was going to art class, according to the federal complaint.
Bullis was also subjected to repeated sexual assaults, which consisted of inappropriate and unwanted backrubs accompanied by verbal mockery and insults, inappropriate stroking of his neck and throat, also accompanied by blowing in his ear and touching, and rubbing and grabbing his genitals, the complaint stated.
Bullis said that because the school district failed to protect him, he transferred to the Grove Alternative School, according to the complaint.
Bullis’ claim also stated school administration refused to acknowledge the hostile environment and refused to take steps to address the physical safety needs of gay students.
Damages
Michale Bullis, of Wyandotte, is seeking more than $75,000 in damages and his diploma with honors, according to court records.
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