Preliminary injunction sought for teen suing North Carolina school district | North Carolina

(The Center Square) – Clearance of a North Carolina teen's school records for declaring “illegal aliens” in a classroom is sought in a preliminary injunction filed Tuesday.

Christian McGhee, a 16-year-old at Central Davidson High in Lexington, and his parents Leah and Chad McGhee, sued the Davidson County School District board of education. The lawsuit filed May 7 seeks full clearance and removal of the mark from the student's record, and Tuesday's filing asks the court to order the school to rescind the suspension.

The most recent action also introduces excerpts from a recording involving a school administrator, who equated the phrase “illegal alien” with the “n-word.” Also in the recording, Assistant Principal Eric Anderson told the mother, Leah McGhee, that her son should have said “these people need a green card.” Anderson described the teacher using the word “troubled” and said it was because “she was so young and so feminine.”

Lawyers too submitted evidence in the form of texts Written by members of the Davidson County School Board, they say they were sent to community members “in an attempt to slander Christian and his family,” a statement said.

“The Davidson County School Board not only fabricated a racial incident, but then violated a student's rights to free speech and due process to punish him for the fabricated incident,” said Buck Dougherty, lead attorney for the Davidson County School Board. Liberty Justice Center. “What we have here is an administration that refuses to admit wrongdoing and a child caught in the crossfire. We are proud to stand with Christian and his family and urge the court to order the removal of this unwarranted suspension from Christian's record.

According to McGhee's lawyers, the situation took place in class on April 9. The sophomore raised his hand and asked if the teacher's reference to “aliens” referred to “aliens from outer space or illegal aliens who need green cards?”

“Christian asked his question,” said Dean McGee, an educational freedom attorney at the Liberty Justice Center. “A boy in his class, Hispanic, jokingly said, 'Hey, I'm going to kick you…' and used an expletive.

McGee said classes continued as usual, the two teens were friends and there was “no legitimate threat of a fight.”

The teacher then challenged administrators regarding not the use of words, but the appearance of a threat. Anderson, McGee said, spoke to the teenagers.

“The kid said he was joking” about a fight and “he wasn’t offended,” McGee said. “He said it wasn’t a big deal.”

In addition to telling the student he should have been offended, McGee said Anderson gave the student a suspension from school for less than a day and noted that his Spanish grades were weak despite his heritage.