The suit against Michelle Myer, a second grade teacher at Forest Park Elementary School in Fort Wayne, was filed in June by the ACLU of Indiana on behalf of the student and his mother.
Myer allegedly forced the boy, identified in the suit as "A.B.," to sit by himself at lunch for three days after he told a classmate on the playground that he did not go to church because he did not believe in God.
"The defendant's actions caused great distress to A.B. and resulted in the child being ostracized by his peers past the three-day 'banishment,'" reads the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Post.
A.B. said he did not attend church and did not believe in God, but said it was fine if the other student was a believer, the lawsuit says. His comments upset the other student and she began to cry. A playground supervisor told Meyer, who began asking A.B. about church and God.
Meyer then had the boy sit alone, the lawsuit claims, telling him he had offended the other students and should not speak to them.
"A.B. came home from school on multiple occasions crying saying that he knows that everyone at school – teachers and students – hate him," the suit continued. "Even now A.B. remains anxious and fearful about school, which is completely contrary to how he felt before this incident."
The school district released a statement saying: "It is clear that it is not the province of a public school to advance or inhibit religious beliefs or practices.
"Under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, this remains the inviolate province of the individual and the church of his/her choice. The rights of any minority, no matter how small, must be protected."
