A federal magistrate judge has ruled in favor of Gingras, Thomsen & Wachs client Isaiah Taylor, who was detained and questioned as a minor while he was attempting to drop off a frozen turkey for one of his neighbors for Christmas.

At about 7 p.m. on the night of December 21, 2015, police officers Justin Schwarzhuber and Jasen Rydzewski observed a young African American boy — later identified as Taylor, the son of State Sen. Lena Taylor — run across the street holding what appeared to be a bag.

As Taylor passed the squad car, the officers turned on the squad’s lights and ordered him to stop. Taylor immediately complied and was given a pat-down search. The search did not uncover a weapon. Instead, it revealed that the brown paper bag Taylor carried contained a frozen turkey.

At this point, the officers did not let Taylor go and placed Taylor in the back of the squad car where he was questioned further and held while they ran his name through the database, hoping to find an outstanding warrant. The officers only released Taylor after the records check came back negative for an outstanding warrant.

Because the officers released Taylor without an arrest or a ticket, they did not write any reports about the incident. The computer-aided dispatch report indicated that the officers stopped a black male for suspicious activity and the whole stop lasted about 20 minutes.

After the family’s concerns about the incident went ignored by the City of Milwaukee, Sen. Taylor urged her son to file a civil rights lawsuit against the two involved police officers and the City of Milwaukee in April of 2021. The family’s attorney is GTW partner Mark Thomsen.

The lawsuit alleges that the officers violated Isaiah’s constitutional rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by keeping him in their squad car and continuing to question him, even after it was discovered he was carrying a frozen turkey in the bag.

“I have been pushing my city to get it right for a long time,” said Mark Thomsen. “The judge was very, very clear that once they knew it was a turkey, they had no right to detain him, arrest him, put him in the car and question him, even though they didn’t handcuff him, even though they were allegedly nice.”

The judge’s ruling that there is sufficient evidence to establish that Taylor’s constitutional rights had been violated is now in the hands of the Milwaukee City Attorney, City Council and Mayor to decide whether the City will continue to use taxpayer dollars to defend the officers or reach a settlement.

“Until my department, my city, insists on training its officers to do the right thing and act in a constitutional manner, we’re going to continue to have unlawful stops,” said Mark Thomsen.

Read the decision here.

Additional News Coverage:

https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/1-on-1-with-isaiah-taylor-detained-by-mpd-while-delivering-frozen-turkey-in-2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1loJk20xhU

Partner Paul Kinne of Gingras, Thomsen & Wachs has filed a lawsuit against four Dane County Sheriff’s Deputies, Wellpath Mental, Medical Healthcare and one of its nurses on behalf of client Jimmie Joshua. The lawsuit states that Joshua’s constitutional rights were violated when the deputies used excessive force, resulting in a dislocated hip, fractured hip socket and nerve damage that required reconstructive surgery.

The lawsuit stems from an incident that occurred on December 23, 2020. At the time, Joshua was positive for COVID-19, so he was only allowed one hour outside of his cell each day. When he was ordered back into his cell before the allotted hour was up, Joshua started arguing with Deputy Isaac Wachholz.

Despite disagreeing with the early lockdown, Joshua did back toward his cell as ordered. Before he was able to enter his cell, Joshua was thrown to the floor by Wachholz.

Wachholz then called for other deputies, and two more entered Joshua’s cell. One of the deputies grabbed and lifted Joshua’s leg. The three of them then threw him to the floor and two of them climbed top of him.

Joshua was in extreme pain and requested that the deputies get off of him, but instead he was told to “stop resisting.” A nurse then checked Joshua’s vital signs, but did not check his hip and concluded that he wasn’t seriously hurt.

The lawsuit states, “Mr. Joshua knew as soon as he was thrown onto the ground by the deputies that he was seriously injured. When he was slammed into the ground on his right side, he felt his hip was broken because he could feel it popping out of his skin.”

Joshua was eventually placed in a restraint chair and moved to a cell on another floor. Once in the cell he was in so much pain he couldn’t move.

When Joshua’s fiancee, Allison Davidson, called the next day, Joshua told deputies he couldn’t get up to get to the door. Davidson was told by jail personnel that he was “probably lying.”

Another deputy and a nurse went to Joshua’s cell and determined he needed medical help. He was finally taken to UW Hospital, more than 16 hours after the incident occurred.

“He was very upset with the events surrounding his injury,” Joshua’s orthopedic surgeon wrote in his chart. “I can understand why.”

Joshua’s hip was repaired on December 24, 2020, with a metal plate and eight screws. He will eventually need a full hip and knee replacement.

Additional News Coverage:

https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime-and-courts/former-dane-county-jail-inmate-sues-deputies-over-treatment-hip-injury-sustained-in-jail/article_e34b983c-2e10-5136-bfd8-cc6bf2e8aeb4.html

https://madison365.com/former-dane-county-jail-resident-sues-county-over-broken-hip-neglect/

Gingras, Thomsen & Wachs partners Mark Thomsen and Paul Kinne, along with GTW attorney Kimberly Sweatt and referring attorney Amy Bogost, have reached an $862,500 settlement with the Baraboo School District (BSD) on behalf of client Dasia Banks. The civil rights lawsuit, filed in January 2020, arose from the school district’s deliberate indifference and failure to respond to multiple instances of racial harassment and discrimination aimed at Banks, as well as reported student-on-student sexual assaults on school premises.

The GTW team, on behalf of Banks, argued that BSD’s actions violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The original complaint stated that a pattern of racial harassment aimed at Banks began as early as first grade and continued into her freshman year of high school. The Banks family moved away twice because of the harassment, but family circumstances brought them back to the Baraboo School District both times.

When confronted with evidence of harassment and discrimination, the school district repeatedly denied any systemic issues and instead insinuated that Banks was the problem.

Specific evidence of the harassment and discrimination included use of racially insensitive language, threatening letters, lack of punishment for wearing clothing featuring the Confederate flag and even physical assault.

In addition, several instances of groping and sexual assault were reported to various staff members, with no actions taken to stop them. BSD did nothing to warn students or parents regarding predatory patterns, therefore making Banks more vulnerable to ongoing attacks.

The Baraboo School District hired an equity expert, Dr. Gorski, to examine BSD’s conduct after Banks was forced to leave the district in May 2018 to escape the recurring harassment and discrimination. Dr. John B. Diamond, Kellner Distinguished Chair in Urban Education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, elaborated on Gorski’s findings in his report and deposition testimony.

Both reports corroborated the experiences that Dasia Banks was having. In particular, focus group students talked about an environment where students are not held to account. A majority of participants felt that diversity efforts in the district were primarily cosmetic. The general sense was a lack of accountability for student-on-student bullying and discrimination, as well as a lack of accountability for adults who contribute to students’ feeling of alienation.

Focus group students also discussed a pervasive rape culture and felt that reporting sexual assault was not going to help them. Gorski’s report explicitly stated, “Due to a combination of many of the previously mentioned concerns, most students of color with whom we talked do not feel comfortable asking most white staff or in some cases any white staff in their school for help when they need help, which threatens their academic progress.”

This historic $862,500 settlement is one of the largest in Wisconsin for a K-12 lawsuit involving Title VI and Title IX, the two federal laws protecting students from racial and sexual harassment and discrimination.

“What is very clear is that these issues are arising across our state, and school districts are going to have to teach true history and enforce Title VI, which requires that every child be afforded a safe and enjoyable education,” said Mark Thomsen.

The entire Gingras, Thomsen & Wachs team is proud to be part of such an important case and help Dasia Banks use her voice to prompt a much-needed change in the Baraboo School District and wider Wisconsin education system.

Read the original complaint here.

Current News Coverage:

https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/baraboo-school-district-settles-for-862-500-with-former-student-alleging-racism-sexual-assaults/article_c1342795-7df3-5806-a8d2-70e97eff9f08.html

Baraboo School District settles for $862,500 with former student alleging racism, sexual assaults