A former Canyon High School freshman, who was expelled for alleged sexual harassment, has sued the Orange Unified School District, claiming he faced racial discrimination and violations of due process.

The lawsuit was filed in the Central District of California on June 16 by May Jung Law as well as Benjamin Crump, a nationally recognized civil rights attorney.

In addition to not being granted due process, the lawsuit alleges the presence of racial discrimination that occurred throughout the disciplinary process, claiming the existence of “racial and ethnic disparities.” These incidents allegedly occurred while the student was being questioned by a panel of administrators who would eventually decide his fate at the school.

“The district tries to bank on people not asking questions or digging deeper,” said Je Yon Jung, the attorney representing the student. “Yet, the more we started to ask questions, the more we were like this is really bad and needed to do something.”

The student had a “consensual” interaction with a female student, the lawsuit alleges, and after an “interrogation” and subsequent disciplinary process by the district, the student was accused of sexual harassment and ultimately expelled.

“While OUSD and its employees cannot comment upon many aspects of the lawsuit due to the privacy of students and others, the District denies the allegations in the lawsuit and plans to disprove the allegations in court,” said OUSD communications coordinator Hana Brake.

In December 2022, the student — who was not named in the lawsuit and is not being named by the Southern California News Group since he is a minor — was called into the Canyon High assistant principal’s office and questioned about his interactions with female peers, the lawsuit said.

A parent had complained to the school, according to the lawsuit, alleging that the student had met with her daughter during a class where she declined a kiss. The lawsuit claims the student was questioned about this interaction by former assistant principal Greg Smith and current assistant principal Nora Alvarez without his knowledge that a parent had complained.

During the questioning, the student was told to recount all of his interactions with his female peers, including any and all “touches on the arm,” the lawsuit said. Those other students, according to the lawsuit, were also questioned throughout the semester and did not accuse him of forcibly kissing or initiating any sexual contact.

The student said in the lawsuit that he was forced to stay and be questioned for more than two hours and wasn’t allowed to call his parents.

The student was initially suspended from school-related activities for 27 days, according to the lawsuit.

But the school convened a “Student Success Panel” which consisted of “three panelists who are administrators from other schools within the district,” the lawsuit alleges, who read statements from the parties involved, met behind closed doors and ultimately expelled him.

The student was sent to Villa Park High School, another school in the district, for the remainder of the school year.

After a failed appeals process by the student’s parents, the family filed the lawsuit against OUSD alleging “constitutional violations and racial discrimination.”

The lawsuit alleges the student, who is Latino and Korean, was subjected to racism throughout the disciplinary process. OUSD, the lawsuit alleges, disciplines Black and Brown children at two to three times the rate of White students, citing data from previous SSP hearings.

The SSP process, Jung said, is used against students of color in an “absurd” manner and is “designed to wrongfully accuse children of color.”

“On a daily basis, we entrust our children’s physical and emotional well-being and safety to our student educators,” said Jessica Meeder, senior counsel at May Jung. “It is an egregious abuse of power for the OUSD to take that trust and deny our children the most basic and fundamental protections at school because they are children of color and minors who may not know their rights.”

Related Articles