The parents of a black high school cheerleader in Pennsylvania have filed a federal racial discrimination lawsuit, claiming that peers, coaches, and school officials repeatedly singled out their daughter, even forcing her to crawl on the floor like a “pet” while a white teammate pretended to walk her with an imaginary leash.
The 40-page lawsuit, filed Nov. 7 in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, claims that coaches at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg subjected the girl to disproportionate discipline, assigned her trivial tasks, barred her from team photos, and dismissed any concerns she raised about the mistreatment throughout the 2023-24 season.
The case claims many constitutional violations, including violations of Title VI, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, First Amendment retaliation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The family is demanding a jury trial.
According to reports, the lawsuit names several defendants, including school district superintendent Mark Blanchard, high school principal Jesse Rawls Jr., athletic director Michael Craig, board member Bud Shaffner, and coaches Kristi Shaffner and Bethany Mullin, Bud Shaffner’s wife and daughter, as well as coaches Amanda Peterson Martin, Talia Merlie, and Tanya Pickel, of the CV Eagles cheerleading boosters.
According to the lawsuit, the coaches “did everything in their power to take away (her) enjoyment of the sport solely because of her race,” starting when she joined the squad in the summer of 2023.
The lawsuit alleges that one coach told the child she wasn’t “cheerleader-like” despite acknowledging her “elite” tumbling abilities.
Farneth Law Group LLC in Pittsburgh and Brenlove & Fuller LLC in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania represent the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit accuses the coaching staff of harassment and discrimination that began in middle school and persisted with “microaggressions” throughout high school.
According to the lawsuit, the coaches ignored her achievements, compelled her to record all of the cheer routines from the stands during tournaments, assigned her the heaviest equipment jobs without rotating them among others, and took team photos without her.
Court filings reveal that internet posts occasionally cut out or “obscure” the girl, even when she was present in the images. The Black cheerleader often had to wait until her white teammates had “boarded and seated” before boarding a bus for a football game.
“Coaches and the other cheerleaders enforced this call back to the Segregation Era,” the claim goes.
The lawsuit also highlights instances of “humiliating” bullying at a tournament in Florida, where the girl was allegedly coerced into crawling on all fours and acting animalistic while the other female competitors filmed her in their hotel room.
The lawsuit alleges staff was aware of the occurrence because Pickel (one of the cheerleaders) allegedly sat next to the child on the flight home and instructed her not to tell anyone, including her parents. In June 2024, the youngster finally told her parents about the petwalking event, and another parent allegedly confirmed what transpired.
According to the lawsuit, the parents reported that their daughter frequently cried after practice or events, withdrew socially, ceased engaging in activities, requested a change in schools, and wrote a prayer on the wall above her light switch.
In April, her parents complained about the harassment to Craig, the sports director. Craig stated that he would investigate, but the complaint claims he did not follow up or address the concerns.
The girl’s father brought up the problem at the school board meetings on May 6 and May 20. According to the lawsuit, board member Bud Shaffner confronted and threatened the father after the second meeting but stopped when he observed another parent recording the incident on her phone.
The lawsuit claims that following the May 20 board meeting, the father faced retaliation, including efforts to have him fired from his employment. The lawsuit does not detail these attempts or who was involved.
An inquiry into the cheerleading program found no evidence of misbehavior, prompting the complaint, but the action contends the investigation was a sham and did not adequately handle the issues.
The lawsuit also claims that the only other Black cheerleader at the school “in recent memory” alleged similar racial prejudice and voiced regret for not leaving before her final year.
The lawsuit includes past reports and declarations from the school district’s then-Auditor General Eugene DePasquale and then-Superintendent David Christopher, who express concern about bullying and racial discrimination and highlight the underreporting of these incidents.
