If there is one thing that you should never underestimate in this world, it’s a father’s love for his daughter. That love can move mountains. This father went on papa bear mode when he saw his daughter walk into their home with a tear-stricken face.
Source: WorldLifestyle
When he asked her what happened, his daughter’s response made his blood boil. This put into motion a series of events that he never thought could happen. One thing was for sure, someone was going to pay for what they did to his daughter.
An ordinary morning
Jimmy Hoffmeyer was helping his daughter, Jurnee, get ready for school as he usually does every morning. Meanwhile, his wife was in the kitchen downstairs, preparing breakfast and packing lunch for their daughter.
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Jimmy was helping Jurnee manage her beautiful curls. Her wild curls fitted his daughter’s bubbly personality very well. He always considered hairstyling was a special bonding time for the both of them. He loved listening to Jurnee chatter away while he fixed her hair.
The usual routine
It should have been an uneventful day. Jimmy and his wife would report to work after Jurnee gets sent to Ganiard Elementary in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Then, Jimmy and his wife would race back home in time for Jurnee to come back from school.
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They would both be home by the time the school bus would drop off Jurnee from school. They will then usually greet her with a big hug then talk about her day in school as they eat a little snack in the kitchen.
Coming home in tears
But later that day, Jurnee came home with a tear-stricken face. Her eyes were red from crying and she was sniffing when she walked in the door. The moment Jimmy saw his daughter, it felt like his heart was being crumpled.
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For a father, there was a certain pain in seeing his daughter crying. Jimmy heard his wife gasp as she immediately ran to Jurnee. Her hand ran through Jurnee’s noticeably uneven hair. “What happened?” she asked their daughter with a concerned voice.
The school bus incident
Jurnee sniffed and started sobbing. “A student cut my hair. Then laughed at me.” She then continued to tell the story of how it happened in between her sobs. The haircutting happened on the school bus on their way home.
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Upon hearing this, Jimmy let out a long sigh. The kids were probably playing hairdresser and the fact that they were doing it with real scissors and on a moving vehicle caused this bad haircut. Hopefully, it was just a one-time thing.
Fixing the problem
Jimmy then ran his hand through Jurnee’s hair and told her “No kid should cut your hair, okay? Don’t let them do that, okay?” Jurnee nodded her head in an agreement between her sobs. Jimmy’s wife said there was still time to fix it.
Source: Hairstyleology
Jimmy and his wife then took Jurnee to the hairdresser before it closes. His wife explained the situation and after an assessment, the hairdresser gave them a few ideas about what she can do. They all agreed to give Jurnee an asymmetrical haircut where one side would be styled longer than the other.
Reporting the bus incident
When they got home, Jimmy called the school and told them about the haircut a fellow student did to Jurnee. He did not push things since the culprit was also a child. But at least the school was aware of what had happened.
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And that should be the end of the story. But the next day, when Jurnee arrived home from school, her hair was cut short again. This time, it was a very short haircut and it looked horrible. Whoever did it definitely did not do a good job?
A teacher was the culprit
Jimmy was furious but he tried to keep his emotions in check. He sat Jurnee down. “What did we tell you? I told you nobody should cut your hair.” Then Jurnee revealed something. “But Dad, it was the teacher.”
Source: Detroit Free Press
Jimmy and his wife were shocked at what Jurnee said. Did a teacher really do this terrible haircut on their daughter? Can a teacher even do that without informing the parents? Or was Jurnee lying to protect her schoolmate?
Getting the story straight
Jimmy knew that this was a delicate situation. He did not want his daughter to feel like he did not believe her. But he also did not want to accuse the teacher of something without getting the facts right. Jimmy gently asked his daughter what happened.
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Jurnee stood by her story. The teacher cut her hair to “even out” the asymmetrical haircut. The teacher probably did not understand the asymmetrical look and decided to fix it. Even so, they should have been informed. And the haircut should have not been that short.
Reporting the teacher incident
This time, Jimmy picked up the phone and called up the principal to report the incident. He could not believe that teachers would be able to cut their student’s hair without informing the parents. He wanted an explanation.
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But the principal’s response was not what he expected. In fact, it just made Jimmy angrier. The principal did not see anything wrong with it and refused to give hold the teacher responsible. The least he could do was write a note on her file.
It’s just hair
Then, the principal said “it’s just hair – no big deal. It will grow back.” This only made the situation worse. When he heard those words, Jimmy wanted to physically hurt someone. Jimmy could not believe how nonchalant the principal was.
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This was not just hair. Jurnee’s hair was part of her identity. People always complimented her beautiful curls and Jurnee would always respond by sharing to them that her hair color came from her mom and her curls came from her dad. It was something Jurnee had always been proud of and now, her teacher took that away from her.
She was getting bullied
A teacher cutting a child’s hair that short was bizarre. She does not even do a good job out of it. It did not help that Jurnee came home crying again the next day because the other kids were making fun of her hair.
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Once more, Jimmy called the principal about the bullying. This all would not happen if the teacher had not cut his daughter’s hair in the first place. The principal did not even try to hold back his exasperation. “What can we do to make this go away?”
He was told he was overreacting
Jimmy was furious. He could not believe that this principle was being so flippant about the whole situation. No apology or acknowledgment was given and here they are wanting to sweep everything under the rug.
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The principal stood by the teacher stating that she was one of the best teachers in the school and has never had a complaint before. The principal insisted that the teacher did nothing wrong and even went so far as to tell Jimmy that he was overreacting.
A father’s revenge
Jimmy has had enough. The school was being unfair and did not care about how the teacher’s actions were affecting his daughter. As a father, he felt very protective and knew he had to do something. Jimmy swore that he would not let the school get away with this. As he ended the call, he sat for a while in the living room, fuming.
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He wanted revenge. But how would he make them pay? Then he had an idea. Jimmy knew that nothing would happen if he continues this fight on his own. If he wanted the school to pay attention and take accountability for what they did, he needed more people to back him up.
The viral post
Jimmy went to his social media account and started ranting about what happened and how the school responded. It turned out to be a therapeutic act as well as he vented out all his anger in his post. When he was done, he made sure that his post was public.
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As expected, it did not take long for his post to go viral. A lot of parents commented on the post expressing their shock that a teacher would do such a thing. There was a lot of anger towards the school for the way they handled the situation. And there was a downpour of sympathy for Jurnee.
The school stands by its decision
The public was outraged. It did not take long for the media to be involved too. Jimmy’s post forced the school to acknowledge the violation that happened to his daughter. However, their response was unexpected.
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The school claimed that they had hired a third party to do a thorough investigation. The third-party ruled that the teacher did not violate any of the school’s policies. They even went so far as to say that the situation was not that bad and was excusable.
The teacher’s punishment
The teacher would get the last warning since she had been a model teacher until the incident happened. In fact, the teacher was asked to do an administrative leave for a couple of days. Yet, they deemed it appropriate that it would be a paid leave since the incident was just minor.
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The school’s actions shocked the community and for Jimmy, it only added fuel to the fire. Jimmy’s wife was so mad that she was crying furious tears. Jurnee had started having nightmares of losing all her hair. It was clear that this situation was getting out of control.
National concern
After the school responded badly to the public outcry that had happened, the story soon spread nationwide. More people were calling out the school. The school’s lack of repercussions on the teacher was being discussed on national TV!
Source: Law & Crime
In fact, other schools were also being called out for policing the hairstyles of their students. The fact that Jurnee was biracial also was pointed out. A lot of theories were now being passed around about why would the teacher do such a thing.
Transferring to another school
While all this was happening, Jimmy and his wife transferred Jurnee to a different school. There was no way they would allow her to continue going there. They had hoped Jurnee would be able to start afresh in the new school and meet new friends.
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Jimmy knew that Jurnee’s hair will grow back in a few months but the trauma will always be there. He and his wife had memories of school that still hurt when they looked back. They did not want that for Jurnee.
The National Parents Union steps in
One morning, Jimmy got an email notification from the National Parents Union, stating that they wanted to help. They believed that the school had broken the rules on a national scale. Schools should not breach a child’s and parent’s rights like what they have been through.
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Jimmy immediately talked to them and they set up a plan. First, the National Parents Union set up a Go Fund Me page for Jurnee. It was one of the ways for the case to be made an example of. The funds going on the page would be used to get a legal team for the family.
A million-dollar lawsuit
As soon as the page was set up, donations started to pour in. A lot of people supported Jimmy’s need to take legal action against the school. did not take long for a special legal team to be hired. The legal team asked Jimmy what he wanted to get out of this. Jimmy immediately said a million dollars.
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It was not that Jimmy was being greedy. He was aware that the number was outrageous. But he also knew that hitting big groups like this school would only have an effect if you take something big out of their wallets. The civil rights lawsuit was filed on September 2021.
The school will fight back
In a nutshell, Jimmy’s lawsuit stated that the school failed to properly train and supervise their employees and therefore must be held responsible for the improper procedures and behavior of their employees. Jimmy’s attorney declared that the school’s response to the incident was unacceptable.
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But this $1 million lawsuit did not intimidate the school. In fact, they were willing to fight back in court. The school released a statement about the lawsuit that said: “We will aggressively defend against these baseless allegations in court and will not allow this to distract us from our mission to provide every child a world-class education that prepares them for college and careers.”
Anticipating the battle
For now, Jimmy is still fighting the battle in court and the rest of us are waiting for what will happen next. The nation is anticipating the battle between the school and the overprotective and loving father.
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Will the teacher finally be given a thorough punishment? Will the school finally yield and admit they handled the situation wrong? Will Jimmy and Junree finally get the apology and acknowledgment they deserve? We will know the answers in the months to come.