Los Alamos resident Luckie Daniels and her daughter who attends Los Alamos Public Schools. Courtesy photo
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Los Alamos resident Luckie Daniels filed an 84-page lawsuit Nov. 27, 2023, against Los Alamos Public Schools (LAPS) alleging her rights were violated pursuant to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Daniels is the parent of a Los Alamos High School student. She is representing herself in the suit in which she names the Superintendent Jennifer Guy, Assistant Superintendent Carter Payne and members of the school board.
Quiñones Law Firm in Santa Fe is representing LAPS. Because this is pending litigation, Superintendent Guy explained that she can’t elaborate but did say, “The District denies all allegations made by Ms. Daniels. We have responded to each of her complaints and allegations.”
Daniels said there had been ongoing incidents of racial discrimination and bias for 15 months before she filed the lawsuit.
“There were many opportunities for LAPS to course correct and I sought every available path for redress before filing my discrimination complaints and lawsuit,” she said, adding, but when the English 11 N-word incident happened in September at the high school, she had had enough. (A teacher reading aloud from John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men read the N-word as it appeared in the text.)
“There must be District policies in place to protect and support marginalized students,” Daniels said. “I would like to see a true commitment to Equity initiatives. Checks and balances requiring accountability and transparency from the school district are needed.”
She alleges that LAPS has concealed incidents involving racism and discrimination from the school community, adding these incidents provide an opportunity for the district to grow its understanding of equity.
“I want to see real discussions, real transparency, and real change,” Daniel said.
She explained she filed the lawsuit citing Title VI and VII civil rights violations; adding that LAPS could have addressed these concerns but didn’t. Daniels said she does not believe that she and her daughter are the only marginalized people to experience discrimination in Los Alamos. Daniels said her hope through the lawsuit is to see a commitment to affording equity protections to all marginalized people in Los Alamos.
Daniels alleges in her lawsuit that LAPS administrators and school board members have denied her and her daughter Title VI and Title VII nondiscrimination protections and rights, violated LAPS policies for nondiscrimination, parent grievance, employee grievance, parent participation, comments at public board meetings, code of ethical responsibility of the education profession and employee speech.
Last fall LAPS hired Treesineu McDaniel of Fagen Friedman and Fulfrost to conduct an investigation into Daniels’ complaints, which is still underway.
Daniels indicates in her lawsuit that the New Mexico American Civil Liberties Union, the New Mexico Public Education Department’s Identity, Equity and Transformation Division and the state Attorney General received her filed complaints to referenced violations. Court documents also show that complaints were submitted to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR). According to OCR correspondence dated Sept. 11, 2023. As of today none of these organizations have indicated that they have any open investigations underway in the district.
The OCR entered into a resolution agreement with LAPS regarding a 2022 complaint alleging racial slurs at a soccer game, which required the district to revise its nondiscrimination and harassment policies and train its administrators, employees and athletic coaches in those policies. The OCR concluded in its correspondence that LAPS complied with all terms and requirements in the agreement and that OCR had closed the case. However, in her lawsuit Daniels alleges the district violated term 2 and is in noncompliance with its own nondiscrimination policy and its nondiscrimination regulation.
Daniels is seeking $558,400 in her lawsuit, including $158,400 in compensatory damages, $300,000 in punitive damages and $100,000 for pain and suffering.
The lawsuit was originally filed in First Judicial District Court in late November, but in December LAPS was granted its request that the case be moved to Federal Court.
On Dec. 21, 2023, the attorney for LAPS filed a “motion for more definite statement” stating, “In the present matter, (Daniel’s) 84-page complaint (with attachments) and, more specifically, its contents consisting primarily of multiple, unnumbered bullet points and lengthy statements, make it such that Defendants cannot reasonably be expected to prepare a responsive pleading. If the court orders a more definite statement and the order is not obeyed within 14 days after notice of the order or within the time the court sets, the court may strike the pleading or issue any other appropriate order.”
The U.S. District Court of New Mexico website indicates that an initial scheduling conference on this lawsuit is set for Jan. 30 in Albuquerque.