Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- A former Davis School District student has filed a lawsuit alleging racial harassment from students and staff.
- The lawsuit claims ongoing harassment despite a 2021 U.S. Department of Justice report on racial issues in the district.
- The lawsuit accuses a coach of racially charged remarks.
FARMINGTON — A former Davis School District student has filed a lawsuit against the district and a teacher who was also her coach, alleging she was harassed and discriminated against because of her race.
The lawsuit further claims the district still allows students to be harassed, despite promises to improve in that realm following an explosive 2021 U.S. Department of Justice report finding the district was "deliberately indifferent" to racial harassment cases involving students.
The report also said the Justice Department found "severe, pervasive and objectively offensive race-based harassment" was regularly committed in district schools by students against other students and, in some instances, by staff against students.
'Clouded by a darker experience'
The lawsuit, filed in November, alleges that a former student, Ebony Davis, had been subjected to racist and demeaning remarks since junior high.
Despite finding success both academically and athletically as a member of Layton High School's girls basketball team, court documents describe Davis' time in the district as "clouded by a darker experience that had followed Davis ever since junior high."
"Being called the N-word while walking to class in the hall, having a student turn off the lights in the classroom and shout, 'Oh, where did Ebony go,' having students touch her hair without permission and having students ask for an 'N-word pass' so that they could supposedly use the N-word in addressing her without recourse, were all common, regular and at times daily experiences for Ebony while attending the district," the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit also says Davis was "generally aware" of the Justice Department's findings against the district and to help, she became a committee member of the district's multicultural advisory council.
Still, "racist and demeaning slurs and jokes" from students did not let up and even extended into Davis' pursuits on the basketball team, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit alleges her former coach, Robert Reisbeck, regularly made statements directed at Davis that were "racially charged and demeaning."
These statements, according to the lawsuit, included Reisbeck seemingly mocking Black History Month by telling Davis, "It's your month, we have to treat you special" or telling other students to carry Davis to get a drink "because you're special."
The alleged harassment also included Reisbeck regularly mocking Davis for physical attributes specific to Black students, including her hair, the color of her skin and her ability to jump, according to the lawsuit.
"Coach Reisbeck would also regularly call out during scrimmages 'Oh, look, I put the only Black girl on the white team' or 'The white team needs a girl with hops,'" the suit says. "Reisbeck also regularly mocked Davis by telling her that her skin color was inextricably connected to her wealth or inability to thrive in society."
Eventually, this led to Davis wanting to quit the sport she once loved. Not wanting to make her teammates and friends feel like she was letting them down by quitting, court documents say Davis "deliberately allowed" her historically good grades to slip to the point of being academically ineligible to not play.
"At one point, an assistant coach on the team noticed Davis was "displaying a significant amount of discomfort toward coach Reisbeck and was aware of the repeated negative, racially charged remarks that coach Reisbeck had made towards (Davis)," the lawsuit claims, alleging the assistant coach reported Reisbeck's conduct to an assistant principal but the assistant principal "deliberately" did not relay the report to the district's office of equal opportunity, as required by the district's agreement with the Department of Justice.
With the help of an attorney, the report made its way to the Office of Equal Opportunity six weeks later in April 2024, and the office issued findings that Reisbeck had " intentionally engaged in racial harassment" against Davis, according to the lawsuit, which also says the district provided Reisbeck with a written reprimand and a transfer to a different position.
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified punitive damages.
In June, district officials and an ex-employee tasked with helping the district address race issues agreed to a $143,558 settlement to resolve the discrimination suit she filed.
In a statement sent to KSL.com on Friday, the district said it "continues to prioritize safety and belonging as it is foundational to a child's emotional and academic development.
"We stand firmly against any form of harassment or discrimination in our schools. A single student experience with harassment is intolerable and contrary to our mission, and we take those reports seriously. While we acknowledge there is continuous work to be done, we have established processes and systems in place, which are overseen by our Office of Equal Opportunity, to investigate and address bullying and harassment systematically. We are committed to taking necessary and appropriate steps to provide a safe environment for all students, free from all forms of harassment and discrimination."
