A federal jury Wednesday ordered the Chicago Board of Education to pay $750,000 to the family of a child beaten in a CPS school in September 2018 following over four hours of deliberation.
The lawsuit was filed by Asia Gaines after her 9-year-old son was whipped with belts in a bathroom of George W. Tilton Elementary School on Chicago's West Side in September 2018.
The lawsuit alleged that the child's homeroom teacher, Kristen Haynes, arranged for her friend, Juanita Taylor, to come to the school to discipline him.
According to the lawsuit, Taylor was an estranged relative of the child's father, but was a stranger to the child himself.
The lawsuit claimed Haynes was known as the school's disciplinarian throughout her 15 years of teaching, with two adult-sized leather belts known to students by the names "Mr. Brown" and "Mr. Black."
Tyler was found guilty of domestic battery in a 2020 criminal trial while Haynes was acquitted of battery and child endangerment. Haynes was dismissed from her teaching position following the incident.
On Wednesday, jurors found Taylor, Haynes and the Chicago Board of Education were found to be liable for the pain and post-traumatic stress the child experienced in connection with the incident.
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