HUNTINGTON – The parents of a non-verbal Huntington High School student say the child was verbally and physically mistreated and neglected by staff and even taken from the school by an unknown man.
The complaint also says the 15-year-old boy was battered, belittled, barricaded in a corner, deprived of food and drink and left to sit in his own feces and urine for extended periods of time. The parents also say the Cabell County Board of Education has been unable to tell them what the man did with their son and why he was permitted to take him from the school.
Teresa and Clinton Mills, as parents of C.M., filed their complaint in federal court against the Cabell BOE and employees Jonna Davis, Mickey Copley, Tiffany Black, Natalie Mastrangelo and John Baker.
According to the complaint, C.M. has been diagnosed with Phelan-McDermid Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that can lead to a number of physical and developmental issues and/or delays. As a result, C.M. also has been diagnosed with autism, epilepsy, failure to thrive, anxiety and pica, which is a health condition that causes him to compulsively swallow non-food items.
C.M. has a documented history of constipation, cellulitis and rumination, which causes him to regurgitate undigested and partially digested food. He requires assistance with daily living activities, and he is allergic to strawberries and eggs, thus requiring him to have an EpiPen with him at all times. He also is on a high-calorie diet and requires constant supervision. He has a high risk of seizures and choking as well as an unstable gait.
Before he began attending Huntington High in August 2022, C.M. had an Individualized Education Plan meeting in March 2022. Despite the advance notice, the plaintiffs say the school board didn’t hire a full-time aide for C.M. But Black was hired as a 30-day temp aide.
C.M. was to attend four class modules from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to start the school year. Davis, a special education teacher, was the teacher for the first module, substitute Copley was the teacher for the second and third modules, and Mastrangelo was the teacher for the fourth module.
The parents say school staff and employees, including the individual defendants, were supposed to provide them with a communication log each day detailing their son’s day, including his behavior, activities and toileting.
Soon, the parents said they began seeing red flags.
On August 31, it was reported the communication device C.M. used at school was broken. It wasn’t repaired until September 14.
They also said C.M. began having more toileting accidents after starting school at Huntington High and that he came home smelling like urine. His assigned Board Certified Behavior Analyst from Diversified Assessment and Therapy Services accompanied him to school and said he wasn’t being properly cleaned up by board employees after toileting accidents.
The complaint says the BCBA told Black she needed to assist C.M. with toileting that might include physically touching and cleaning him. She said she wasn’t comfortable with that.
On two consecutive days in September, the parents said they didn’t receive communications logs. When the BCBA went to observe again, she reported C.M. wasn’t in his classroom when she went to observe and had to look for him in the school.
During a September 22 IEP meeting, Black cried and suggested no teachers were working with C.M., according to the complaint. The next day, his school communication device accidentally was sent home. It indicated it had been used only sporadically for short periods of time.
On September 26, Teresa Mills asked to review videos of her son at school. The board made the videos available October 13, 10 days later than allowed by law.
A video from September 14 showed Davis “appearing frustrated and roughly grabbing C.M.’s face to get his attention” and C.M. leaving the class after 20 minutes. It also showed Copley and Black barricading him in the corner of the classroom with two desks and a chair, telling him to sit when he tried to get out of the corner, Black getting in his face and telling him not to make her use her “mom voice,” and Black leaving the room for 16 minutes without telling anyone to supervise C.M.
The video also showed Copley and Black watching him have a bowel movement before they and other board employees laughing about it and spraying air freshener toward C.M. and taking another child out of the classroom because of the smell. The video shows Copley and Black leaving C.M. in his feces for an extended period of time and refusing to change his diaper. It also shows them failing to provide him with food or drink, allowing him to walk around the classroom without his shoes and depriving him of his communication device.
Later, the video shows Black making popcorn and eating it in front of C.M. while taunting him and denying him access to food. It also shows Copley making derogatory comments about Teresa Mills in front of C.M. and mocking his communication device and stating that she doesn’t know why C.M. is at school.
And later, the video shows C.M. being left with aides who are supposed to be with other students, Black leaving the room for 17 minutes, Black and Mastrangelo refusing to give him food or water, giving him a phone and placing him in a corner.
Another video shows special education aide Baker leaving the classroom with C.M. 25 minutes early. C.M. doen’t appear again on camera for 2 hours and 46 minutes.
“Prior to viewing the video … plaintiffs Teresa Mills and Clinton Mills had never heard of defendant John Baker,” the complaint states. “Plaintiffs never were informed that defendant John Baker would be working with C.M. Plaintiffs have not been provided documentation showing that defendant John Baker has been adequately trained on C.M.’s needs or the use of his assistive devices.”
The parents say they repeatedly have asked about their son’s whereabouts for the nearly three-hour window when he wasn’t on camera. Video evidence suggested Black took C.M. to another classroom for about an hour, but the rest of the time remains undocumented.
On November 17, the board provided an affidavit from Baker saying he had C.M. on school property, going to the baseball field to walk, to walk around the football field to throw a ball and to practice walking up and down the steps.
“C.M. cannot throw or catch a ball,” the complaint states. “C.M. should not be practicing walking up and down steps as he requires the use of the assistive device to traverse the stairs safely. C.M. should not be waling for long periods of time as he has gait issues, tires easily and requires frequent breaks.”
The complaint says the affidavit also doesn’t explain what Baker did with C.M. when he removed him from class a second time on September 23.
When Teresa Mills asked to have all classroom and hallway videos showing C.M. to be preserved, the plaintiffs saw more footage. That footage, among other things, showed Black grabbing and shoving him into a chair, Black restraining him in his chair, Copley and Black refusing to take him to the restroom, Copley and Black failing to prevent him from placing objects in his mouth, Copley and Black laughing at and mocking his disability and Davis and Baker refusing to change his soiled diaper.
It also shows Copley and Black talking negatively about C.M., his mother and the BCBA, “suggesting that the money being spent on C.M.’s education and care was a waste and could be better spent elsewhere.”
Teresa Mills says she was emotionally distraught and unable to watch additional videos. She said her distress was further fueled when CCBOE counsel Sherrone Hornbuckle-Myers “coldly and loudly demanded to know ‘what more’ plaintiffs wanted from CCBOE.”
The plaintiffs allege other children in C.M.’s classrooms are being similarly maltreated and neglected.
The complaint says Black, Copley and Baker briefly were suspended by CCBOE, but have been reinstated. It also says Mastrangelo is being transferred to Cabell Midland High School.
The parents also say the board refuses to show them the hallway and exterior videos from the dates C.M. was taken from the classroom. They allege that, after being advised of possible spoliation of evidence, the board suddenly was able to pull the video but that the “process is going to be slow to get” and wouldn’t be able to be viewed until they are “ready.” The plaintiffs say they think the videos have been tampered with, destroyed or no longer exist.
The Millers accuse the defendants of negligence, negligence per se, negligent infliction of emotional distress, disability discrimination in violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act,
They accuse the board of negligent training and supervision, negligent hiring and retention, disability discrimination for intentional discrimination and for failure to make reasonable accommodations both in violation of the American with Disabilities Act, violation of the Rehabilitation Act and intentional and negligent spoliation of evidence.
Black, Davis and Baker all are accused of civil battery and civil assault. Black, Copley, Davis and Baker are accused of false imprisonment, and all defendants are accused of violating the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The Millers seek judgment against the defendants and compensatory damages for economic and non-economic losses, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief. They also seek injunctive relief requiring the board to correct their policy and practice of violating the civil rights of students with disabilities.
The plaintiffs are being represented by Ryan M. Donovan and Casey E. Waldeck of Hissam Forman Donovan Ritchie in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 3:22-cv-00592
