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Reed Point Discrimination Trial Begins Wednesday

A lawsuit alleging a Montana school discriminated against Native Americans goes to trial in Columbus Wednesday.

Four Native Americans from Pryor on the Crow Reservation say they were denied entry to the school gym in Reed Point in January of 2017 because they were not white. They had arrived early for a school basketball game and said white fans were being let in early out of the cold weather. The four are suing the school’s superintendent and athletic director.

The trial comes after the Pryor Four filed a complaint about the incident with the Montana Human Rights Bureau last year. The Montana Human Rights Bureau issued a “no cause finding,” which an attorney for the Bureau told the Great Falls Tribune means “the charging parties were unable to produce a preponderance of evidence to prove their case.”

The plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU of Montana are asking a judge to order implicit bias training for employees and agents of the Reed Point school district, training on harassment and discrimination, and for the district to cover their attorneys fees.

In February of last year the Reed Point Superintendent called the incident a misunderstanding.

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