City sues after teacher accused of putting 5th graders in headlocks gets slap on wrist

Headlocks, slaps and whispered threats that “I will hurt you”: This is what New York fifth graders faced from a tenured public school teacher the city’s Education board is trying to fire, court records claim.

New York City's Board of Education is demanding the ax for a Brooklyn teacher found guilty in a probe of slapping a student – only to have an arbitrator recommend a slap on the wrist, according to a petition filed by the city's Department of Education Friday in New York Supreme Court.

“Given the inappropriateness of the Respondent’s alleged conduct, to wit: slapping students in the face, grabbing a student around the neck, putting students in headlocks, and making threatening comments to a colleague to the effect of “catch me outside, I’ll cut you b--ch,” the only rational penalty to be imposed is termination or at least a penalty that would be corrective in nature,” the petition states.

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Raw Story contacted the New York City Law Department, which declined to comment.

But the United Federation of Teachers, the city’s largest union for educators, responded to the petition in a statement sent to the Daily Beast.

“An independent arbitrator heard all the evidence and determined the BOE failed to prove its case,” the union spokesperson said.

The investigation into Christopher Nickelson’s behavior at Elijah G. Stroud Elementary School in Prospect Heights is detailed in student complaints, investigation reports and arbitration hearings filed with the petition, court records show.

After students complained they’d been attacked in January 2020, and one teacher reported the encounter to the school, Nickelson found the teacher and said, “I will cut you, b--ch,” according to the BOE documents.

A fifth grader said Nickelson slapped her said she cried because it felt like a burn, records show.

Those who defended Nichelson said he was guilty only of “play fighting,” but a girl contends the teacher tried to bully her into saying his slap was just play, according to the documents.

The accusations triggered an internal investigation from an arbitrator who ultimately ruled Nickelson’s antics had just been pranks, as he contended throughout, the petition states.

Instead of recommending termination, the arbitrator ordered a $1,000 fine to be paid in installments, according to the complaint.

It is this decision the BOE challenges.

Daily Beast, which was first to report the story, has further detail. You can find those here.