A white New York City teacher plans to sue the city for $1 billion over her firing in October following claims that she abused and humiliated black students during a lesson about slavery, according to multiple reports.
Patricia Cummings, who teaches in the Bronx, initially filed a $120 million lawsuit in Suffolk County, where she lives.
The incident involved Cummings having black junior high school students lie down on the floor of the classroom. She allegedly put her knee on a student’s back in an effort to show how African-Americans were subjected to terrible treatment during slavery.
The school investigated and found she had used poor judgment but did not recommend corporal punishment charges. She was reassigned and later fired.
The 37-year-old teacher said Thursday she has “no career at this point” because of the publicity surrounding the incident and plans to launch a $1 billion class-action suit with other teachers who say they were discriminated against by the city.
Initially, Cummings sued the city’s Education Department, Mayor Bill de Blasio, and media outlets for her termination from M.S. 118 William W. Niles, Pace, Spectrum, and Excellence.
“Anyone who has met me knows I don’t have that bone in my body,” Cummings said. “I was brought up — you treat everybody the way you want to be treated.”
Cummings argued only one student and parent were upset about her lesson, and a black teacher at the school who witnessed the lesson was not offended.
“That 20 seconds of a teachable moment changed my life,” said Cummings, who added that she has received emails stating she should be murdered.
