Parents sue Hamilton County Schools after sexual emails target student

HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) — Parents of an East Hamilton Middle School student are filing a lawsuit against the school system. This is after students at the school received sexually-explicit emails from an anonymous source last year.

The parents claim the Hamilton County Board of Education practiced negligence and omissions. They say this negligence caused humiliation, mortification and emotional distress to themselves and the student.

The lawsuit states that around 100 East Hamilton Middle students received anonymous emails through their school-issued Chromebooks. The emails came through the students’ school-issued email addresses.

It happened between March and April of 2022.

The suit said the emails included sexually-explicit content, including stories and images, targeting the student.

The emails shared fictional stories about the 13-year-old and a teacher, according to the lawsuit.

It also states that school officials knew about the emails, but did not do anything.

According to the lawsuit, the student informed her vice principal. Her parents also informed the principal, the SRO, the Hamilton County Police Department, the school’s IT department and the superintendent.

In addition, it said teachers received emails as well. One teacher reached out to the student’s parents, as well as school administration.

Hamilton County Schools had control over the cybersecurity for students who are minors, the suit said. Additionally, it said the school “repeatedly breached its duty of care to Plaintiff, failing to implement the most basic security practices.”

The victim is seeking $300,000 in damages, and both parents are seeking $50,000 in damages each, according to the suit.