Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast
After more than a year of relentless bullying, including a brutal, hair-pulling beatdown that was filmed and posted online, things got so bad for a 10th-grade cheerleader in Long Island, New York, that her parents put their house up for sale and tried to leave the area altogether—but not before the teen’s emotional support horse “was tragically killed in front of her by the veterinarian.”
That’s according to a $6 million lawsuit obtained by The Daily Beast, which says the 16-year-old was promptly dubbed “horse girl” by her tormentors, whose vicious taunts about the beloved pet and ongoing physical attacks eventually drove the young woman from Smithtown West High School altogether.
The suit alleges the school, the school district, the Board of Ed, and the school superintendent were aware of what was happening but never did anything about it.