The lawsuit against George Washington Carver School and teacher Julious Johnican alleges that the teacher organized a “fight club-style” punishment for students, including a 7-year-old special needs student. The child’s mother, who had previously warned the school about this behavior, filed the lawsuit after footage of her son being attacked was accidentally revealed during a parent-teacher conference. The video shows a classmate repeatedly punching her son while the teacher encourages the attack. Johnican and several administrators have been named in the lawsuit for failing to keep the child safe and ignoring his claims.
The lawsuit claims that Johnican encouraged and instigated this “reprehensible ‘fight club’ type of discipline” in his classroom over a period of three months. It is also alleged that he held the child down on at least two occasions while other students attacked him. Despite his claims to Child Services investigators that the students were sometimes friends, the investigation found evidence to support the boy’s claims and concluded that the teacher jeopardized their well-being. Johnican was allowed to resign from the school over the video.
The mother had communicated with Johnican on several occasions prior to the video coming to light, with the teacher dismissing her son’s claims as lies or signs of mental illness. On one occasion, the child called his mother in tears after allegedly being attacked in class, but neither Johnican nor school faculty explained why he was upset. The mother tried to set up a meeting with the school about the incident but was repeatedly told that her child was disruptive, lying, and had a disordered personality. The young boy also reported that a substitute teacher said special needs students were demonically possessed.
The mother filed the lawsuit against the school alleging disability discrimination, intentional infliction of serious emotional distress, negligent care and supervision, negligent hiring, retention, and supervision, and inadequate policies and protection. Indianapolis Public Schools released a statement saying they do not tolerate the alleged behavior and take reports of potential abuse seriously. When they learned of the teacher’s conduct, the Department of Child Services was immediately notified, and the teacher was removed from the classroom and suspended. The school claims the teacher no longer has any contact with students and is no longer employed by IPS.
