.svg)
The Bridgewater-Raritan School District, a former principal, and a recently retired physical education teacher have been named as defendants in a lawsuit filed by a former student who alleges she was subjected to a pattern of bullying and harassment based on her Muslim faith, dark skin, and Egyptian background.
The plaintiff, 19-year-old Jana Gadalla, a recent graduate of Bridgewater-Raritan High School, filed the suit in Somerset County. The complaint identifies defendants as the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education, former principal Vincent DelPriore, and retired physical education teacher Kathie DeBonis.
According to the lawsuit, the alleged incidents took place during Gadalla's senior year in the 2022-2023 school year. Gadalla's legal team asserts that DeBonis, who also served as a longtime girls lacrosse coach and health teacher, repeatedly made disparaging and inappropriate comments about Gadalla's religion and ethnic heritage.
The lawsuit details several alleged instances of verbal harassment. On one occasion, DeBonis allegedly told Gadalla, “This is America; by the time you are 16 you will probably be in jail anyway.” During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when Gadalla had received permission to be excused from gym class to observe the daily fast, DeBonis allegedly told her, “If I were you, I would just go drink alcohol,” and "Do you think you’re going to go to hell or something?”
The complaint further alleges that DeBonis made repeated comments about Gadalla's weight. On a separate occasion during Ramadan, DeBonis is said to have told Gadalla, "it’s good that you’re fasting during Ramadan, maybe you’ll lose some weight.” The lawsuit also claims that DeBonis called Gadalla "obese" and assigned her a three-page paper on obesity before allowing her to use the restroom.
According to court documents, Gadalla reported the alleged bullying to her guidance counselor and subsequently to the principal. The lawsuit states that when DeBonis learned Gadalla was being moved out of her class, she asked other students in Gadalla's presence, "who snitched to the principal?"
Gadalla's lawsuit contends that the bullying and harassment led to "physical manifestations of emotional distress as well as personal hardships including anxiety, adjustment problems, sleep disturbance, humiliation [and] mental pain and anguish." The complaint specifies that DeBonis did not "mock, shame or make inappropriate comments to light skinned non-Muslim, non-Egyptian students."
Kathie DeBonis retired following the 2023-2024 school year, a development that came after the alleged incidents but before the lawsuit was filed. State pension records show she is now receiving an annual pension of nearly $70,000. Neither DeBonis nor the Bridgewater-Raritan School District and its legal counsel have issued public statements regarding the lawsuit as of press time. The district has until August 29 to formally respond to the suit, according to court papers. The litigation remains ongoing.
