Jan 5, 2008 6:25 pm US/Central
Glenbard North Student May Sue After Expulsion
Minority Teen Admits Fault In School Scuffle, But Says Punishment Is Too Harsh
CAROL STREAM, Ill. (CBS) ―
After a school scuffle, a discrimination lawsuit is expected to be filed against Glenbard North High School. At the center of the suit is an expelled sophomore who is on the pom squad, track team and has a 3.4 GPA. The student admits she was in the wrong, but thinks her punishment is just too harsh.
As CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports, Maya Oquendo got into a hair-pulling scuffle, at lunchtime after telling her friend it wasn't right for her to date a 20-year-old man.
"We started arguing because she really didn't want to talk things out with me," Oquendo said.
Then, both girls fell to the floor. Oquendo says she was approached from behind by someone she thought was helping her friend.
"I bit her arm, unaware," Oquendo said.
The person was actually a lunchroom monitor.
"I was sorry," Oquendo said. "Her age, you know, everything. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone."
She was handcuffed and brought to the police station where she was fingerprinted, had a mug shot taken and placed in a holding area, charged with assault.
"I've never gone through anything like this before – nothing so drastic," said Maya Oquendo.
"As if that's not enough punishment in itself, to be expelled on top of it, is very disturbing for me," said her mother, Stacey Oquendo.
Maya Oquendo's father is world class heavyweight champion Fres Oquendo.
"We're in this situation where we try to make sure our daughter not only gets back in school, but gets treated fairly from the justice system," he said.
Oquendo's attorney plans to file a lawsuit against Glenbard North, alleging discrimination and wrongful expulsion, which she says is frequent in DuPage County. Maya Oquendo is African-American and Puerto Rican. The friend involved in the scuffle is Caucasian.
That girl was suspended for five days and is back in school, according to Maya Oquendo.
"If you're looking at Du Page County, where Maya attended school, they only make up 6 percent of the student population, African Americans," said attorney Tamara Holder. "However their rates are like 32 percent greater to expel African-American students."
In response to this story, the principal of Glenbard north told CBS 2, "the school does not comment on confidential student matters."
Holder says she's hoping to negotiate an agreement with Glenbard North, so Maya Oquendo can return to school.
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