A federal jury on Wednesday ordered the Chicago Board of Education to pay $750,000 to the family of a child who was abused at a CPS school in September 2018 after more than four hours of deliberation.
The lawsuit was filed by Asia Gaines after her 9-year-old son was whipped with belts in a bathroom at George W. Tilton Elementary School on Chicago’s West Side in September 2018.
The lawsuit alleged that the child’s homeroom teacher, Kristen Haynes, arranged for her friend, Juanita Taylor, to come to the school to discipline him.
According to the lawsuit, Taylor was an estranged relative of the child’s father, but was himself a stranger to the child.
The lawsuit alleged that Haynes was known as the school’s disciplinarian during her 15 years of teaching, with two adult-sized leather belts known to students by the names “Mr. Brown” and “Mr. Black.”
Tyler was found guilty of domestic violence in a 2020 criminal trial while Haynes was acquitted of rape and child endangerment. Haynes was fired from his teaching position after the incident.
On Wednesday, jurors found Taylor, Haynes and the Chicago Board of Education liable for the pain and post-traumatic stress the child experienced in the incident.