DICKSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Dickson County high school student has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing the county and its school board of failing to protect him from years of alleged racial harassment at Creek Wood High School.
The student, who is biracial and now a senior at Dickson County High School, filed the lawsuit Sept. 15 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. It names Dickson County and the Dickson County Board of Education as defendants.
The complaint alleges the student began experiencing racial harassment after enrolling at Creek Wood as a sophomore in 2024, including classmates repeatedly calling him the N-word and other racial slurs. It claims coaches witnessed some of the harassment and failed to intervene despite multiple reports from the student and his parents.
The lawsuit says the harassment escalated in 2025. The student alleges another student threw him against a metal locker after he asked the student to stop calling him the N-word. In September, he says he found a wooden board in his basketball locker with racist language and references to "Whites Only" and "Jim Crow Laws."
The complaint alleges administrators failed to promptly notify his parents and later proposed placing him in a separate locker room from other basketball players. His attorneys characterize that proposal as segregating the student rather than separating the students accused of harassing him.
The student also alleges classmates retaliated against him for reporting the harassment, calling him a "snitch," "traitor" and "NARC" during practices while coaches were present.
The lawsuit says the alleged harassment caused anxiety, vomiting and other physical and emotional symptoms. It says the student began therapy, contemplated suicide and ultimately transferred to Dickson County High School in December 2025.
The lawsuit alleges violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment. The student is seeking damages, attorneys' fees, court costs and other relief.
The school district has not yet filed a response in court.
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