‘Humiliating’ act white cheerleaders forced black teammate to do while they took photos and video

A group of white cheerleaders forced their black teammate to get down on all fours and act like a “pet” while they recorded the “humiliating” act, a new lawsuit has found.

The student’s parents filed a 40-page lawsuit Thursday against the Cumberland Valley School District in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

The legal filing alleges that their daughter, identified only as Jane Doe 2, faced “discrimination” and “bullying” during a competitive trip by her teammates, adults and coaches on Cumberland Valley High School’s competitive cheerleading team.

The alleged incident occurred as the team was traveling to the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships at Walt Disney World Florida in February 2024, while another cheerleader went to pick up Jane Doe 2 from her hotel room.

Despite feeling “reluctant to go,” the student followed her teammate into another room filled with a group of cheerleaders because “she was pressured to do so,” according to the lawsuit, reviewed by DailyMail.com.

When she got there, her teammate, known only as Jane Doe 3, told the black cheerleader to “get down on her hands and knees and pretend to be an animal” while she “walked around and Jane Doe 2” her followed “as if she were on a leash,” the lawsuit described, adding that the act was “reminiscent of slavery.”

As Jane Doe 2 got down on her hands and knees to perform the scandalous act, another teammate recorded her, while Jane Doe 3 – a current senior – insisted she smile for a selfie ‘to commemorate the moment’ , the lawsuit said.

The complaint added that parents and coaches accompanied the trip as chaperones and that they “knew what had been done to Jane Doe 2 in the hotel room.”

One woman, identified as Ms. Pickel, dubbed an “attack dog for the coaches,” then made sure to sit next to Jane Doe 2 on the plane ride home after the alleged moment.

During the flight, Pickel “interrogated and harassed” the cheerleader, making it “absolutely clear to her that what happened to her in Florida was not to be revealed to anyone,” including her parents, the lawsuit said.

After the alleged traumatic incident, Jane Doe 2 confided in Michael Craig, the school’s athletic director.

After speaking with him in April, two months after the alleged meeting, Craig “said he would look into it, but immediately went silent,” the lawsuit states.

The complaint added that both the parents and coaches were traveling as chaperones and that they “knew what had been done to Jane Doe 2 in the hotel room.” (Photo: Cumberland Valley High School)

The filing added that Craig remained silent about the alleged incident as “an implied admission that he was aware of the complaint of discriminatory conduct, harassment and bullying in one of the athletic programs he oversaw.”

The student’s father, John Doe, then took matters into his own hands and decided to discuss the matter at a board meeting on May 6, and again on May 20 after hearing nothing back.

A board member, Harold “Bud” Shaffner, then became irritated with John Doe and “chased” him in the parking lot “and began threatening him and others,” the lawsuit added.

Shaffner, the husband of Kristi Shaffner, one of the cheerleading coaches, only stopped his antics after other parents pulled out their cellphones to record him, the filing said.

‘Sir. Shaffner also “made it inherently clear that if John Doe did not like the racist environment at CVSD, then the plaintiffs were not welcome in the school district,” the documents say.

The school board “subsequently declined to investigate Shaffner’s conduct” after the interaction with him and John Doe, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also detailed other instances in which Jane Doe and John Doe witnessed their daughter become angry at the hands of the team.

The file stated that her parents often saw her crying when they picked her up from cheer events and practices, that she asked to transfer to another school or district, “became distressed, nervous, and withdrawn,” and that she dropped out with ‘engaging in activities that she previously enjoyed.’

Her parents also said that Jane Doe 2 even left a copy of the “Serenity Prayer” in her room “and repeated it as a mantra to overcome the racial discrimination, intimidation and bullying she endured,” the report said. described the lawsuit.

In response to the initial bullying and discrimination claims raised before the lawsuit, Cumberland School District closed its investigation into it back in October. WHP reported.

In response to the initial bullying and discrimination claims raised before the lawsuit, Cumberland School District closed its investigation into it back in October. (Photo: Dr. Mark A. Blanchard, Cumberland Valley School District Superintendent)

According to the lawsuit, the school board “chose to cover it up” rather than “solve their problems with creating, fostering and perpetuating a racially hostile and pro-bullying environment.”

The girl and her parents agree that the school’s “investigation was a sham,” and that the law firm it hired, McNees, Wallace and Nurick, was only retained “to draw the conclusions the Board wanted.” , the lawsuit said.

The filing concluded that due to the alleged interactions with her teammates and the people afterwards, Jane Doe 2 experienced symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, sleep problems and fear of retaliation, among other adversities.

The parents and their daughter have requested a jury trial and also sought judgment in their favor and against all named defendants, including interest, damages and attorneys’ fees, the lawsuit said.

DailyMail.com contacted Dr. for comment. Mark A. Blanchard, the superintendent of the Cumberland Valley School District and the Cumberland Valley Cheerleading team.