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Redwood City School Employee Calls Black Student 'Slave'; Father Files Lawsuit

REDWOOD CITY (CBS/AP) -- The father of a black teenager has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Redwood City school district because an employee called his son a slave.

N'Jai LeBlanc said he decided to sue the Redwood City School District on Monday after Selby Lane School leaders and district officials downplayed the January lunchroom incident during his meeting with them.

LeBlanc's 13-year-old son was ordered to pick up lunchroom debris and he told a school employee he's not a slave.

The lawsuit said the employee told the teen it isn't a free country and added, "You are my slave." The employee later apologized.

LeBlanc tells the Palo Alto Daily News that the word slave is just like the N-word to him.

District spokeswoman Naomi Hunter says the district won't comment.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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