LAS VEGAS -- Parents of a middle school girl have filed a lawsuit against several students and their parents after they said their daughter was bullies and taunted by her classmates for her race and physical stature.
The parents are suing the teens $10,000 for each charge against them.
The girl's lawyer, Tara Newberry, said the number of acts committed would equal a lot of money if the case wins in district court.
But Cecilia and Jonathon Cutler said the suit is not about the money; instead, the parents of the young teen said they want the bullying to stop and the parents of the other kids to take some responsibility.
The Cutler's home was even vandalized by the teens who have been bullying her daughter for months, Cecilia Cutler said.
"They threw eggs (and) a bottle of olive oil," she said.
The teens verbally abused her on social media networks Facebook and Twitter and even pitched photos of Dora the Explorer with forks on their front lawn, Cutler said. Freshly planted flowers were torn out of the ground and the garage door was damaged when an olive bottle was thrown against it.
The girl was also teased at pool parties and at school by the teens, according to the complaint filed against them.
"Two mean girls obsessively bully a shy, diminutive and reserved Hispanic girl and ridicule her relentlessly over a span of time, and then vandalize her home," the complaint reads.
At first the girl tried to ignore the teasing and bullying, but her parents said it started to take a toll on her emotional health.
"It's just frustrating to know that she was so upset and humiliated by it that she didn't feel like coming to us," Cutler said. "She tried her hardest to turn the other cheek. She never defended herself in any way."
When the parents of the teens accused of bullying their daughter didn't take responsibility for their children's actions, the girl's parents decided to take the accused bullies to court.
"Instead of addressing the situation, they shrugged responsibility," Cecilia Cutler said. "And no one has wanted to own up to their kids damages they have done both emotionally and financially to us."
In the complaint, Cutler said one of the teen's parents, a police captain, came to her home and intimidated her into not filing a claim with the insurance company. She also said he denied any wrongdoing by his child and said that he would check on the police report and make sure things were "taken care of," according to the complaint.
Newberry said neither the school nor police have done anything about the bullying.
The civil suit is their final attempt at ending the bullying, so the Cutlers' daughter can finally get some peace.
"To see the pain and humiliation that she went through, to hide it form us," Cecilia Cutler said as she cried.
Attorney David Roger, who is representing one of the family's named in the lawsuit, released a statement from the family.
"As parents, we try and instill in our children the impact of their actions, and consideration of other people's feelings when making choices. But children don't always make the best choices. Our daughter is learning a 'life lesson' due to her choices made on the night of June 8th, 2012."
When the girl's parents learned of the vandalism, they and their daughter went to the Cutler's house and cleaned up the yard. Other parents and their children involved in the vandalism also went to the house to help, the statement said.
The family said their daughter also wrote a letter of apology, was grounded and is performing community service to help others. According to the statement, the family also offered the day after the clean up to pay for damage.
"We have had many discussions to hopefully better instill in her the values we hope she will live by as she becomes a young adult," the statement said. "We understand the Cutler's passion to protect their daughter. We hope they can see the sincerity in our reaction, and attempts to apologize."
Cecilia and Jonathon Cutler talk about the lawsuit they filed against teens they say are bullying their daughter.
