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Brothers Allege Racial Incidents: Former Golden West Students File Lawsuit Against Visalia Unified.

Posted on: Friday, 31 March 2006, 09:00 CST

By Tim Bragg, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Mar. 31--VISALIA -- Two African-American students who say they were racially harassed and threatened by whites at Golden West High School have filed a federal lawsuit against the Visalia Unified School District.

Douglas Hurt, a Visalia attorney representing brothers Keith and Kevin Pankey, filed a claim Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Fresno saying the teenagers were called racially offensive names on a regular basis in public areas and classrooms, and that administrators and teachers at the campus did nothing to stop it.

The lawsuit also says the Pankeys were physically threatened and told they would be lynched by fellow Golden West High School students.

The boys' parents, Irvin and Colleen Pankey, said the alleged discrimination was so great that they removed the boys from the school and transferred them to Mt. Whitney High School, Hurt said.

"White kids had the feeling they were free to say these things because of the way the administration was set up on campus," Hurt said.

The district wasn't able to comment specifically about the Pankey case because it is an active lawsuit, said Susan Cox, the district's director of risk management.

However, Cox said the district's job is to keep schools safe for all students.

"When issues are brought to our attention, we do investigate them and seek to implement the appropriate resolutions," Cox said.

Also named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit were Visalia Unified Superintendent Stan Carrizosa, Golden West Principal Bob Cesena, assistant principals Diane Biehle, Alfonzo Guzman and Nacho Lairma; weight-training teacher Andy Thornburg and district area administrator Rick Rodriguez.

The lawsuit claims the Pankeys' civil rights were violated, along with their equal protection rights under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit also claims the district violated numerous other federal and state codes in handling the case.

Hurt said the harassment of the Pankey boys started shortly after they began attending the school in August 2003, and only came to an end when their parents pulled them out of the school last April.

He said the boys hid the abuse from their parents at first, because they "just wanted to go to school."

Hurt said he was unaware of any action taken after Irvin and Colleen Pankey learned of the alleged abuse and complained to school administrators.

Irvin Pankey is an assistant football coach at College of the Sequoias and was a former Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman.

While the Pankeys are asking for monetary damages, Hurt said, they are interested the most in what the lawsuit calls "declaratory and injunctive relief" -- to force the school district to change the way it deals with racial discrimination so no one else has to go through what the Pankeys have been through.

He said school officials showed "deliberate indifference" to their concerns.

"They reported the discrimination, but the school didn't do anything about it," Hurt said.

When the allegations from the Pankeys arose last spring, Cox said, the district revisited its policy on school safety.

Last fall, the district "strengthened" and clarified policy regarding appropriate conduct.

Name-calling related to race, sexual orientation or anything of that sort is not tolerated, Cox said.

She said the new procedure calls for administering the appropriate consequences, providing help for victims, counseling alleged perpetrators and making parents aware of the situations.

Under the policy, teachers and staff members are also expected to be "hypervigilant."

But the lawsuit says school officials were anything but hypervigilant about racial incidents when the Pankeys were attending Golden West.

Some of the incidents claimed in the lawsuit include:

On one occasion, a white student allegedly yelled an offensive remark at Keith Pankey in the presence of Biehle, who said, "Excuse me?" upon hearing the statement. The student said "monkey" and Biehle allegedly said "OK" and took no action.

A group of white students allegedly approached Keith Pankey on campus and aggressively displayed a white rope tied into a noose for lynching, which Keith took as a physical threat.

The Pankeys and other African-American students reported harassment to assistant principals Guzman and Lairma. On one occasion, Lairma allegedly had Kevin Pankey write down a list of specifics regarding the harassment. Lairma allegedly told Kevin no action would be taken.

The Pankey brothers are currently juniors at Mt. Whitney High.

Keith Pankey, who is listed at 6 feet tall and weighing 200 pounds, was a starting linebacker and reserve running back on the football team, and a starter on the basketball team. He played varsity football for Golden West as a sophomore in 2004.

Kevin Pankey, who is listed at 6 feet 4inches tall and weighing 210 pounds, was an offensive and defensive lineman in football, and a starter on the basketball team. He played junior varsity football for Golden West in 2004.

Some have said that the brothers were using the racial claims so they could transfer to another school to gain an advantage in athletics. Hurt denied that claim.

This is not the first time Golden West High School has been the target of a lawsuit claiming harassment.

Former Golden West student George Loomis sued the district in 2001, alleging that a teacher and classmates harassed him in fall 1999 because he is gay. Loomis was awarded $130,000, and the settlement forced the district to conduct anti-harassment training.

Bee staff writers John Ellis, Nick Giannandrea and Susie Pakoua Vang contributed to this report. The reporter can be reached at tbragg@fresnobee.com or (559) 622-2417.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

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Source: The Fresno Bee

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