Principal, school district sued for alleged excessive force in student paddling

MILAN, Tenn. — A local school principal is being sued, accused of using excessive force while paddling a student.

Attorney Michael Carter of Crocker Carter Hall law firm represents the student. He said the family has filed a lawsuit against the Milan Special School District and Milan Middle School Principal Chris Jones, alleging Jones used excessive force when he paddled a student for behavior issues on Sept. 8, 2016.

“The injuries were not something you would expect to see from what should have been a relatively routine discipline of a child at a school,” Carter said.

Carter said the mother authorized the paddling but said it went too far, leaving serious bruises and contusions. He said she complained to Mr. Jones, the school superintendent and the Department of Children’s Services.

“We were not satisfied with that result,” Carter said. “There just didn’t seem to be any effective remedy through all the various government agencies that were involved in investigating the incident.”

The lawsuit alleges Jones committed assault and battery against the child and that the school district did not take action to prevent Jones from using excessive force.

Carter said he’s been in close communication with the school system’s attorney.

“We did make an effort to resolve the matter without filing the lawsuit, and they did not want to negotiate,” Carter said.

MSSD Director of Schools Jonathan Criswell said they cannot comment at this time due to pending litigation as they have not received a lawsuit or a summons from the court.

Carter said they are seeking damages of up to $300,000. Those costs go toward $150,000 for compensatory damages and $150,000 for punitive damages.

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