Student Union Alleges Attack

The Tappan Junior High Student Union filed a class action snit in Washtenaw Circuit Court Friday seeking $16,000 in damages from a Tappan assistant principal for the alleged assault and battery of a Tappan student. ( The suit also seeks injunctive relief "ra force school authorities from forcibly or otherwise restraining the Tappan Student Union from exercisings its legitímate right to assemble," according to Dennis Hayes of Chelsea, attorney for the Student Union. Duane E. Peterson, an assistant principal at Tappan, is alleged to have knocked to the floor and punched a _Student Union organizer, David Kaimowitz, on Jan. 21. Kaimowitz says he was standing in the hall that day urging students to attend a unión meeting, which was unauthorized, at the time of the alleged assault. Peterson is out of town vacationing and could not be reached for comment. The suit was filed against Peterson and Neil Mueller, Tappan principal. It is scheduled to be heard by Circuit Court Judge Ross W. Campbell. Mueller said he has not officially been informed of the suit, nor has he seen the legal papers giving details of the suit. So the principal said he feit any comments on his part would be "premature." The suit was filed in the name of the Tappan Student Union, David i witz, his mother (because David, 13, is a minor), and "all others similarly situated." Attorney Hayes says he hopes the suit I will forcé the school administration to treat the Student Union "with the same degree of respect as the government they instituted themselves: the Student Council." The Tappan Student Union claims membership of between 60 and 100 students. Tappan has a student enrollment of about 1,100. The Student Union says the school administration will not allow it to hold meetings at a time during the day when all interested students can attend. It also says the administration promised to renegotiate the time and then later refused. Kaimowitz also told The News the alleged assault on him creates a "ehilling effect" intimidating students f rom joining the union. The $16,000 in damages asked in the suit includes $10,000 in personal damages, $5,000 in punitive damages, and $1,000 in "damages to the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of the Student Union."