Throughout the class, he referred to the student at ``the German girl,'' prompting taunts from classmates, the suit says.
The suit was filed anonymously by ``Nicole K.'' and her parents, Peter and Cathy, against Pisker and the Upper Perkiomen School District.
It seeks unspecified financial damages and asks for Pisker's removal ``from all student contact and teaching until Nicole K. graduates from high school or otherwise leaves the public schools of the school district.''
Pisker, a resident of Barto, Berks County, has been reassigned and is teaching another class. He did not return a phone message left at his house.
District Superintendent H. George Bonenkemper was tight-lipped about the suit.
``We've been advised not to comment by our solicitor,'' Bonenkemper said. ``You have to realize that in a confidential personnel matter involving a lawsuit, we're very limited in what we can say.''
``It's a sensitive case,'' said Jeffrey H. Quinn, a Philadelphia lawyer representing the school district and Pisker. ``He's a veteran teacher and, from what I have gathered, a very well-respected teacher,'' Quinn said, declining to elaborate.
A specialist in sexual harassment and employment-related claims filed against schools and colleges, Quinn was brought in on the case by the school district's insurer, Utica National Insurance Co., based in New York.
Philip M. Stinson Sr., the lawyer representing the girl and her parents, would not say where the family lived in the district, which serves Upper Hanover, Marlborough, East Greenville, Pennsburg, Red Hill and Green Lane. Stinson, who has offices in Wynnewood, said that Nicole's father was born in Germany, and that he spoke with a German accent.
Nicole was born in Doylestown and is the oldest of four children.
Stinson said the incident had led Nicole's classmates to harass her viciously during the last month, calling her ``bitch'' and ``Nazi'' ever since Pisker allegedly made the remark.
``Some days have been so brutal that she's refused to go to school,'' Stinson said.
The suit claims the school and Pisker violated Nicole's constitutional right to equal protection, among other violations of her rights.
``She has a right to be treated like anyone else,'' Stinson said. ``A local government official cannot run around calling people a Nazi.''
