A Florida teacher tries to humiliate a student who read his Bible in class. The science teacher called him ‘ignorant’. Now there’s a lawsuit.
A 14-year-old Christian student in Florida, who was allegedly told to stop taking his Bible to school after he was repeatedly attacked and bullied by students and teachers alike for his faith, has filed a lawsuit seeking significant damages because the school has “destroyed his educational experience.”
The Dhillon Law Group filed the 206-page lawsuit against Mater Academy, a public charter school in Hialeah Gardens, on behalf of Nicolas Ortiz through his parents, Rafael and Lourdes Ortiz.
Dhillon Law Group managing partner, Harmeet K. Dhillon, said in a statement: “It’s bad enough that the school has done nothing to stop the bullying from his peers, but have gone as far as joining in on targeting Mr. Ortiz for simply practicing his faith.”
Several alleged incidents are detailed in the suit. “During a fall 2021 classroom discussion, Nicholas’ science teacher, Mr. Ardieta, singled out Nicholas in front of his peers and questioned him for believing in God. Mr. Ardieta insinuated that Nicholas was ignorant for believing in the Bible. When Nicholas attempted to defend his beliefs, Mr. Ardieta cut him off and said, in front of the class and during the classroom discussion, Nicholas should not believe the Bible.”
Ortiz went on to experience similar attitudes toward his faith from students at the school who “regularly made disparaging comments” to him about what he believes.