Mother claims Bellwood school employee shoved 4-year-old into locker

(BELLWOOD) A lawsuit filed Thursday claims a preschool employee shoved a 4-year-old girl into a locker last year in west suburban Bellwood.

The girl’s mother filed the suit in Cook County Circuit Court against Bellwood School District 88 and two women who work at Lincoln Primary School, 3519 Wilcox Ave.

The suit claims on Oct. 10, 2014, one of the employees forced the 4-year-old into a classroom locker while the other woman watched.

When the girl’s mother came to pick her up, she thought her daughter was missing before learning what happened, the suit said. Her daughter was “terrified and alone, and sobbing in tears, for an extended period of time,” the suit said.

One of the named employees did not touch the girl but witnessed the whole incident and did not do anything to stop her colleague or let the girl out, the suit claims.

The woman who allegedly hurt the girl had a habit of unreasonably disciplining students, and the district knew about it, the suit claims. Because of this, the suit states officials should have contacted the state’s Department of Children and Family Services.

The school district did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.

Among its claims, the eight-count suit holds the employees and school district responsible for inflicting emotional distress on the girl.

The suit is demanding at least $200,000 in damages, as well as compensation under the Family Expense Act.