A father and daughter in Brevard County, Florida, have filed a federal lawsuit against the county’s school board alongside leadership from Eau Gallie High School and other district leadership. According to the father, his 14-year-old daughter was subjected to years of targeted harassment from fellow students. When no one did anything about it, her family escalated their concerns to the US Department of Education. That move did little to change things, but it further made her a target for discrimination, this time from school leadership.
Nicholas Dayton alleged in the lawsuit that his daughter, who is referred to by her initials, has been subjected to a “pattern of racial discrimination, retaliation and defamation,” Florida Today reported.
The family is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, attorney’s fees and relief under the Civil Rights Act. Additionally, they want systemic reform to “ensure (Brevard Public Schools) comply with student-protection policies and constitutional standards,” according to a news release.
“What happened to this child is not only a betrayal of trust — it’s a constitutional violation,” said the family’s attorney, Coleman Watson, per Florida Today. “Public schools are not above the law, and students’ privacy and dignity must be protected.”
Problems between the family and the school district go all the way back to August 2023, the complaint states, per People. At the time, the girl, whose initials are reported as M.D., attended Johnson Middle School in Melbourne. Dayton alleged that his daughter and other students were subjected to frequent misogynistic comments and racial slurs from other students, and school officials did nothing to stop it.
He filed a complaint against the district with the US Department of Education, claiming an “ongoing lack of action to protect students of color” and accusing Brevard County Schools of “falsifying documents” regarding reports of bullying and violence.
Dayton also accused the school board of labeling his family as “whistleblowers” and staging a series of retaliatory measures against his daughter.
The harassment reportedly continued when the girl began attending Eau Gallie High School in the fall of 2024. One example is that a teacher “changed M.D.’s grades to lower grades and refused to correct them until [the father] produced records confirming M.D. did the work,” People reported.
On September 18, 2024, the complaint alleges “school official(s) at Eau Gallie High School called DCF and stated that M.D. was pregnant and molested by [the father].” An investigation was opened by the Department of Children and Families, and police came to the family’s house to question the teen.
The father claimed that he took his daughter to her pediatrician, who gave a report that the girl wasn’t then and had never been pregnant. But even after they gave the report to officials, the school questioned students about the allegation. This caused “the pregnancy and molestation accusation to spread like wildfire,” according to the complaint.
Later that month, on September 30, M.D. was allegedly subjected to the first of four strip searches, Florida Today reported. The girl reported the strip searches, conducted by Assistant Principal Carrie Humphrys, who is also named in the lawsuit, on October 1, after the second one occurred. According to the family, a male staff member was present for one of the searches when the girl was unclothed.
On October 21, the family filed a report with the school board about the strip searches, and a third occurred that same day. The fourth took place on November 1. “In the end, it is clear that the School Board and the school(s) never had (the student’s) best interests at heart,” the family claimed.
The school principal reportedly reached out to the family regarding the searches, WESH reported. “After investigating, I found that Eau Gallie High School staff did not follow district policy,” the email read. It then included the policy on student searches.
The school district released a statement regarding the lawsuit that was shared by the outlet. “Brevard Public Schools is aware of allegations that are currently the subject of pending litigation,” it states.
“While we cannot comment on the specifics of that case, we want to be absolutely clear: Brevard Public Schools does not strip search students. We have never conducted strip searches, and we never will. The safety, dignity, and well-being of our students remain our highest priority.”
