Hernández v. School District of Pennsylvania
“John Doe,” an asylum-seeker attending elementary school within the School District of Philadelphia, was harassed by classmates based on his perceived sexual orientation and national origin. His mother, Leslie Hernández, encouraged John to ask his principal for help. Rather than provide support to stop the harassment and protect John’s education, the principal threatened to call immigration authorities to deport John and his family. The harassment escalated. After multiple requests to intervene, the school district implemented a “solution”: It moved John into a special education classroom to separate him from his harassers, even though John did not require special education services, and John learned next to nothing in the class. Additionally, throughout his time at the elementary school, the district failed to provide John with language-appropriate instruction and services.
Public Justice represented Hernández and John alongside the Advancement Project, Emery Celli Abady Brinckerhoff Ward & Maazel LLP, and Kairys Rudovsky Messing Feinberg & Lin LLP. Together with co-counsel, we negotiated a pre-suit settlement to secure justice for the family and create systemic change in the School District of Philadelphia. The district agreed, among other provisions, to pay the clients money damages, to provide additional training to staff and students, to promote access to services for English language learners, and to hire an external investigator to assess its policies and practices. John’s experience and the settlement were covered by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
