Las Vegas High School Wasn’t Very Smart

LAS VEGAS (CN) - A Las Vegas high school hurt its junior class president by duct-taping her to another student head to toe during an assembly - and they fell over, she claims in court.

Alexis Kenney was junior class president at Southwest High School when school administrators wrapped her and another student head to toe in duct tape during a "mandatory and officially sanctioned school-wide assembly" on May 20, 2013, she claims in her May 11 lawsuit in Clark County Court.

While Kenney and another student were "publicly restrained" back-to-back, with their arms "pinned to their bodies" and their "legs pinned together," they toppled over. Kinney landed face-first on the bottom, she says.

Neither of them could bend at their knees or hips or use their arms to break the fall. Kinney says they were taped together as a "disciplinary action ... for an as-yet-unspecified infraction" and "to amuse" school administrators, teachers and students.

Kenney struck her chin on the ground as the other student's head landed on hers. State law and school district policy "prohibit the intentional infliction of physical pain upon, or the physical restraint of, a pupil for disciplinary purposes," Kinney says in the complaint.

She says she suffered "severe debilitating personal injuries, mental anguish and other damages" from the incident.

She sued Nevada, the Nevada Department of Education, Clark County and the Clark County School District.

She seeks punitive damages for negligence, negligent hiring, battery, false imprisonment, aiding and abetting, and emotional distress.

She is represented by Michael Graves with the Rainey Legal Group, who did not return a call seeking comment.

Clark County School District said it does not comment on pending litigation.

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