Bully drags South Jersey girl by her hair, parents say in lawsuit

WINSLOW — The parents of a middle school girl say their daughter endured more than a year of bullying that started as taunts and threats and progressed to physical violence.

The incidents started around the February 2016 when a group of girls started to harass their daughter, who is not identified by name in their lawsuit against the district.

The harassment included calling the girl names such as "bitch," "whore" and "slut" in school and in text messages.

The lawsuit says one of the bullies also made up a rumor about the girl sending nude pictures to a boy.

The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court in Camden County,  seeks an unspecified amount of damages from the district as well as efforts by the district to "make certain that the gender-based harassment complained of herein does not occur, and if it does occur, that it is properly and immediately responded to."

The lawsuit claims that the girl's mother became aware of the harassment around October 2016 and brought the issue to the principals. The mother said despite going to the administration she believed nothing had been done. Instead, after the mother went to the school, the victim was harassed even more, according to the suit.

The harassment continued through June 2017, when one of the bullies accused the girl of calling her mother a "hoe," according to the lawsuit. Despite the girl denying calling the mother a name, the bully grabbed her by her hair and dragged her across the floor, saying "I told you I was going to drag you," the lawsuit says.