BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) — The parents of four 12-year-old girls who say they were illegally strip-searched in school are suing an upstate New York district in federal court.
The civil rights lawsuit seeks unspecified financial damages at trial and was filed Monday by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
It names the Binghamton City School District and Board of Education, as well as a middle school principal, assistant principal and nurse.
The lawsuit claims racial bias caused the officials to interpret the girls’ playful behavior as suspicious.
It says the girls, who are black, were told to partially disrobe for a drug search in the nurse’s office in January. The lawsuit says the girls were humiliated.
District officials dispute how the girls and advocacy groups have characterized the situation.
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