ATLANTA - A U.S. student claimed in a lawsuit Wednesday he was humiliated and traumatized when he was forced to strip in front of classmates who said he had marijuana.

The student said he still suffers from emotional distress because classmates taunted him by calling him "Superman," after the underwear he was wearing at the time. The student is suing the Clayton County school district for unspecified damages.

Clayton County school officials didn't immediately respond to requests for comment about the federal lawsuit.

The student, identified in court documents as D.H., said officials at Eddie White Academy initially strip-searched three other students on Feb. 8, 2011, after suspecting they had marijuana. One of them accused D.H. of having drugs, and he was brought to then-vice principal Tyrus McDowell's office.

While the three classmates watched, D.H.'s pockets and book bag were searched, the lawsuit said. One of the students told school officials he had lied about D.H. having drugs, but administrators continued the search as D.H. begged to be taken to the bathroom for more privacy, according to the lawsuit.

D.H. was ordered to strip and again, no drugs were found. The lawsuit didn't say whether drugs were found on the three students.

"The strip searches were done intentionally, willfully, wantonly, maliciously, recklessly, sadistically, deliberately, with callous indifference to their consequences," according to the lawsuit, which also names the county's sheriff's department and several former school officials as defendants.

The student's attorney, Gerry Weber, said a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling found school officials can't perform even a partial strip search of a student, even if they have probable cause.

McDowell was placed on administrative leave before resigning.

McDowell could not immediately be reached.