Teacher shows Kendrick Lamar video in class. Now, a Connecticut town has to pay $100,000 because of it

A Connecticut town had to pay $100,000 to settle a lawsuit after a teacher showed a Kendrick Lamar music video in the class. One of the students who was the son of a police officer allegedly suffered mental and emotional distress due to the shockingly violent scenes in the video of the song "Alright". Parents of the student claimed that they had to transfer the child to another school after the incident and pay tuition costs. 

Content not suitable for kids

The incident happened in February 2020 at the Vernon Center Middle School, as per CT Insider. The teacher showed his class a documentary titled, "Hip Hop: Songs that Shook America" featuring the song "Alright" by multiple Grammy-winning rapper, Kendrick Lamar. 

At the end of the full version of the music video, a man playing the role of a police officer is shown. The character makes a finger gun motion and fires at Lamar, who is standing on top of a light pole. In the black-and-white scene, blood splashes as the rapper falls from the pole.

The lawsuit filed in 2022 claimed that the son of a police officer, who had a diagnosed learning disorder and an individualized education plan, suffered psychological distress, including PTSD because of the violent scenes and the "controversial statements" made about police officers.

The suit further claimed that the student experienced “personal embarrassment” as his classmates knew he was the son of a police officer. It said his friends "disassociated" with him causing anxiety, depression, feeling unsafe, and social withdrawal. The parents said that they had to transfer the kid to another school after the incident. 

The lawsuit further claimed that an assistant superintendent with Vernon Public Schools found that the teacher had violated the school's Board of Education policy and state professional standards for teachers as well. It alleged that the teacher knew that one of his students was the son of a police officer and that he had a learning disorder.  

A hefty price to pay

After the parents reported the incident to the school administration, a mutual agreement was reached that the student would be removed from the teacher’s class and that he would never contact the student again.

However, the lawsuit claimed that some or all of the consequences of the incident forced the parents to change the kid's school as a result of which they suffered loss and damages. 

In the end, the town council moved to approve a settlement between the council, the school's board, and the parents. Earlier this year, it was agreed that a sum of $100,000 would be paid to the parents.

The amount is supposed to take care of the two cases, the first is the lawsuit against the school's board and a special education due process case. It will help the family cover the tuition costs of the school transfer as well.  

Superintendent Joseph Macary told the CT Post that while neither of the parties discussed the settlement beforehand, it was finally “reached through negotiation” and approved on the “advice of counsel.”