PATERSON — The city school district faces litigation from both the student and the educator involved in a hallway tussle last April at Paterson’s alternative high school for teens with behavior problems.
The student, Jamarr Johnson, who is now 18, returned to Alonzo Tambua Moody Academy for just one day of classes after the incident and ended up getting jumped by classmates who were angry because the educator, Boswell Anglin, had been fired over what happened, his grandmother said.
Student files suit
Johnson, on Nov. 3, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing the school district of failing to protect him in a complaint that claims city education officials “had for years known about several unrelated illegal assaults being perpetrated by certain of their employees upon certain students” at the alternative high school.
Anglin, who was an instructional aide at the school, has been charged by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office with assault and endangering the welfare of a minor because of the incident.
Authorities said a security camera video of the incident showed the educator was the aggressor who initiated the tussle, and that the student did not strike or fight Anglin. Anglin is accused of knocking Johnson to the ground and hitting the restrained student twice with his arm and twice with his knee.
Teacher filed notice of possible suit
Anglin, who is 40, filed an official notice of a possible lawsuit against the school district in July, claiming he was wrongly terminated and deprived of his rights to due process. Anglin’s legal notice said the student spit in his face and was about to do so again when the educator “used reasonable efforts” to restrain the teen.
The educator’s legal notice said he would be seeking back pay from the school district, reimbursement for his legal fees, and damages for “the emotional distress and anxiety” he has gone through.
The incident happened April 18, Anglin was fired on May 3 and he was arrested on Sept. 21, according to public documents.
The incident first came to public light in May when Anglin’s co-workers at Moody Academy came to a Board of Education meeting to speak out in his defense, praising him for going out of his way to help students. Moody Academy includes teens with juvenile justice problems who are court-ordered to attend.
Principal reassigned
The principal last spring, Zatiti Moody, was among those who publicly supported Anglin at the school board meeting. The academy is named after Moody’s father. During the summer, Moody was transferred to a principal’s position at John F. Kennedy High School. He never reported for work at Kennedy, and instead took sick leave through the end of November.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson, NJ: Lawsuits hover over educator’s tussle with student