MANCHESTER, TENNESSEE - JUNE 16: Kendrick Lamar performs during the 2023 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 16, 2023 in Manchester, Tennessee. (Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images)
A Connecticut town has agreed to pay $100,000 to a family that sued over their child’s reaction to watching a Kendrick Lamar video in school.
According to the New Haven Register, Vernon agreed to settle the 2022 lawsuit this week. However, it’s still awaiting approval from the local Board of Education.
The middle school student involved was reportedly SHOOK when Kendrick’s ‘Alright’ video played during a documentary screening.
This incident occurred at Vernon Center Middle School in 2020. A teacher showed his eighth-grade class the ‘Hip Hop: Songs That Shook America. According to the New Haven Register, one student in the class had an “individualized plan and a diagnosed learning disorder.” His father is also a police officer.
Kendrick’s ‘Alright’ was widely known as a visual commentary on police brutality against Black men in the United States.
So, after seeing Kendrick’s video, the child allegedly suffered emotional and psychological injuries and distress. His distress extended into post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, shock, confusion, sadness, feeling unsafe, and social withdrawal. The lawsuit added that the child might suffer from severe mental illness if he doesn’t receive psychological treatment.
Beyond the mental impact, the child also allegedly had physical reactions of distress. Those included nausea, headaches, and malaise.
“Some or all of the aforementioned injuries necessitated (the student) change schools, as a result of which he has suffered loss and damages,” the lawsuit states.
Two years after the lawsuit was filed, Vernon Town Council members approved the $100,000 settlement on Tuesday (June 4). Only one council member didn’t vote.
If the Board of Education approves the settlement, it will address two legal issues: the lawsuit and a case about the child’s special education.
Additionally, the money will pay back the coins the family allegedly lost while transferring the boy to another school.
Meanwhile, the teacher behind the lawsuit was given a verbal warning about the Kendrick Lamar video. The school required him to get administration approval and signed parental permission slips for kids to see any controversial content.
Furthermore, there has reportedly been no word yet on how long it will take the Connecticut Board of Education to approve the $100,000.
