EAST NEW YORK — A Brooklyn mom and her young daughter intend to sue the city's Department of Education for $2 million, claiming a a second-grade teacher forced the girl to throw her sandwich in a garbage can — and then pick it up and eat it in front of her classmates.
The mom, Aquaria Davis, says in court filings that she was so outraged by the punishment that she and her cousin marched into the East New York school to find out what happened but were arrested for disorderly conduct for "merely investigating" the allegations.
Davis, her daughter and her cousin Devinah Pearson have each filed a notice of claim against the city and the DOE, accusing them of humiliating and embarrassing the girl. A notice of claim is the first step in suing the city.
The incident occurred at P.S. 346 on March 14, 2014, at about 3:15 p.m., when the teacher, Danielle Bonin, ordered Davis' daughter, then a second-grader, to throw out her sandwich, according to their claims.
When the girl complied, Bonin ordered her to retrieve the sandwich from the garbage and eat it in front of her class, the claims say.
"[Davis' daughter] was humiliated, embarrassed and teased by the students regarding this incident," the girl's notice of claim says. The girl's name is being withheld because of her age.
After learning of the allegations, Davis and Pearson went to the school, where they were arrested and later given summonses. Their cases were dismissed on June 16, 2014, according to their claims.
The DOE said that the allegations against Bonin — who has worked as a teacher for the DOE since September 2005 and earns $72,306 a year — were investigated but not substantiated.
Davis, her daughter and Pearson filed their notices of claim on June 24, 2014. Normally, plaintiffs have 90 days from the date of an incident to file a notice of claim. However, plaintiffs can ask a judge to file the notice late if they can provide a reasonable reason for the delay.
The three notices of claim were filed 22 days after the 90-day deadline. The plaintiffs' lawyer, Brian Figeroux, filed court papers on Tuesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court asking for the late notice of claim to stand, blaming the delay on a clerical error in his law office.
The three plaintiffs are each seeking $1 million from the city and the DOE, according to their claims.
"She's been teased and humiliated," John Benjamin, a paralegal from Figeroux's firm, said of the little girl. "At that age group, kids are ruthless. It's crushing to a kid, psychologically."
A spokesman for the city Law Department declined to comment on the allegations.
The city has the right to the challenge a plaintiff's motion to file a late notice of claim. However, the spokesman said that it has not yet received a copy of Figeroux's motion.
"The matter will be reviewed," he said.
