Updated on 08/21/2024 at 3:15 p.m. ET

The black teenager who fell asleep in a Detroit courtroom and had to wear prison garb and handcuffs is to take action against the judge who humiliated her.

Eva Goodman, 15, Lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan against 36th Circuit Judge Kenneth King following his power debacle last week. Goodman was in his courtroom as part of a field trip organized by a local organization.

When she arrived at her work group, she was surprised to find that the day’s agenda was not tree planting, but a visit to the courthouse. The lawsuit states that Goodman had no interest in working as a lawyer, but that she would have either stayed home or tried to change groups and pursue another activity if she could.

Goodman had a “restless night” and dozed off in the courtroom after witnessing a murder trial that forced her to “relive a traumatic event,” the lawsuit says. King then felt “personally disrespected” when the teen “expressed her opinion of the talk by nodding off during the presentation.” The lawsuit says King created his own version of “Scared Straight” by “ridiculing” Goodman in front of her classmates and “insulted” her the whole time in the live stream on his private Facebook page “King’s Corner”.

The lawsuit alleges that when Goodman was asked to put on her prison uniform and handcuffs, she “Locked up for hours” in a holding cell before being forced to face a mock trial.

The lawsuit names King and two unnamed police officers as defendants, accusing her of disrespecting the judge and treating her like a real juvenile delinquent. The lawsuit accuses King of violating Goodman’s constitutional rights and holding him and the other defendants liable.

Goodman is seeking damages for the mental anguish, emotional distress and humiliation she has suffered, as well as reimbursement for the cost of psychiatric treatment she has received since the incident.

“It’s been pretty devastating. Eva doesn’t want to go out. She can hardly sleep at night. She asks me, ‘Why did the judge do this to me of all the children?'” Goodman’s mother, Latoreya Till, said at a press conference on Wednesday. “I just want Judge King to take responsibility for the way he humiliated my daughter. I think he owes her a public apology.”

The lawsuit is just another step in the chain of consequences that King will face after this whole ordeal.

Detroit judge loses his job

Although King proudly defended his actions that day, Wayne State University spokesman Bill Roose told the Detroit outlet that King has been suspended from both his judicial process and criminal procedure/investigation courses in the fall of 2024.

“In light of the temporary suspension of Judge Kenneth King by the 36th District Court, Wayne State University has assigned two courses for fall 2024 to other instructors. As a contractual part-time instructor, King has never had permanent faculty employment. Since 2022, he has taught a total of five course sections at Wayne State’s Law School and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,” the statement said.

King’s actions in the courtroom that day led to an internal investigation that led to his temporary removal from his court record, according to a statement from Presiding Judge William McConico. He was ordered to complete training to address the “underlying issues” that led to the teen’s humiliation.