A lawsuit filed last week in the 9th Judicial Circuit names the Crestwood Unified School District as defendant after plaintiff Gary Toomey, 48, alleges he suffered “emotional and conversational harm” when his son, age 9, came home from school and asked him questions about slavery and the Underground Railroad. Toomey states in the filing that he was caught “entirely off guard” during dinner when his son referenced Harriet Tubman and asked why people needed to escape. Toomey describes the dinner as “a very difficult hour” and says he was unable to “provide adequate framing.” The suit requests $85,000 in damages and asks the court to require that the district send home advance notice any time “heavy historical content” is scheduled, defined in the filing as “anything that could lead to follow-up questions.” A spokesperson for the district said the third-grade social studies curriculum is publicly available on its website and has been for nine years. Toomey’s attorney said his client had not previously visited the website.
