NY teacher fired for controversial slavery lesson files lawsuit claiming reverse racism

A white teacher in New York is claiming in a new lawsuit that she was the victim of reverse-racism when she was ousted for a controversial slavery lesson.

Patricia Cummings was a social studies teacher at Middle School 118 in the Bronx when she allegedly told black students to lie on the floor and stepped on their backs, The New York Daily News reported.

She filed a notice of claim with anticipation of the lawsuit this week, arguing she is owed $120 million in damages because she was the victim of reverse discrimination, defamation and negligence.

{mosads}“It’s a scandal,” Cummings’ attorney Tom Liotti told the Daily News on Thursday. “There is blatant racism and reverse discrimination in the public schools of New York City. This is why white parents do not want to send their children there.”

“It’s no longer the blacks and minorities who are being discriminated against,” he continued. “It is discrimination against white teachers who are making great sacrifices to be there.”

Cummings’s motion, obtained by the outlet, states that the lawsuit could become a class action reverse racism suit valued at $1 billion.

Students and a staff member told the outlet back in February that the lesson on U.S. slavery singled out black students.

Cummings said she showed a five-minute clip from the movie “Freedom” and asked four student volunteers to demonstrate the “cramped conditions” on a slavery ship crossing the Middle Passage, The Daily News reported.

“You see how it was to be a slave?” she allegedly asked.

When a female student replied that she felt fine, Cummings allegedly pressed her foot against her back.

“How does it feel?” she allegedly asked again.

Cummings denies ever stepping on a student or forcing them to lay on the floor.

She was initially reassigned away from students after The Daily News first reported on the allegations.

The Department of Education (DOE) presented her with a discontinuance notice earlier this month, notifying her that she would be fired in 30 days.

She has a right to challenge and appeal the measure during those 30 days, the outlet noted.

DOE spokesperson Doug Cohen told The Daily News that an investigation found Cummings used poor judgement in the classroom.

“We’ve begun the process of firing Ms. Cummings based on an investigation of this unacceptable behavior and her performance as an educator,” Cohen said. “We’ll review this baseless lawsuit.”