BRONX, N.Y. - The Bronx middle school teacher who was fired last year following a controversial lesson on slavery is suing the city for more than a billion dollars.

Patricia Cummings is seeking damages for discrimination, distress and suffering.

Her lawyer says she was falsely accused of being a racist.

She's also suing the Daily News and several politicians.

Cummings claims a school investigation found there was no proof she placed her knee in the back of a student during a lesson on the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

She instead insists she had her students at MS 118 sit close together on the floor to demonstrate how slaves sat on slave ships.

Last February, several students told investigators Cummings had them lie on the floor as she walked on their backs to show them the hardships of slavery.

The Education Department says she was fired because an investigation found she used poor judgment during that lesson.