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Lawsuit: School District Mishandled Harassment Complaints

Canton High School
Dwight Burdette
/
Wikimedia Commons

A federal lawsuit says a suburban Detroit school district mishandled numerous complaints from a teenage girl who eventually tried to kill herself to escape harassment from an ex-boyfriend.

The Detroit Free Press reports the lawsuit Thursday against Plymouth-Canton Community Schools says the now-17-year-old was stalked, bullied and sexually harassed for 16 months starting in the fall of 2016 at Canton High School and elsewhere.

The lawsuit says the girl and her mother made 10 complaints to the school, but harassment continued.

Jennifer Salvatore, the girl's attorney, tells WJBK-TV the district "just wanted to ignore" the allegations.

The district says in a statement it doesn't tolerate harassment and such allegations "are taken seriously, are investigated thoroughly and responded to with appropriate action." It says it can't comment on specific student matters.

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