CHARLESTON – The mother of a Kanawha County special needs student says her son was squirted with water by his teacher as a form of discipline.
Tausha Burton, as parent of H.N., filed her complaint June 30 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Tonda Tryon and the Kanawha County Board of Education. Tryon was the boy’s special education teacher at Capital High School.
“Special needs students deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, not sprayed in the face like an animal,” Ben Salango, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, told The West Virginia Record. “Using a spray bottle to discipline a special needs child is abusive, inhuman and cannot be tolerated.”
Salango
According to the complaint, H.N. is nonverbal and autistic, and he requires assistance with basic daily activities.
On September 25, 2021, Burton says she received a call from the principal and assistant principal at Capital High. She says she was told there had been an incident of abuse involving her son. She later viewed videotaped surveillance footage of her son being physically and verbally abused.
According to the complaint, the video footage showed the child making noises in class before Tryon instructed Angie Brown to retrieve a spray bottle to use on him as punishment. After Brown gave Tryon the bottle, Tryon told her to turn her head.
“I don’t’ want to see it,” Brown said, according to the complaint, before Tryon repeatedly sprayed H.N. on his face and body. The complaint says this form of abuse was a common disciplinary measure used by Tryon.
“If you yell, you’re going to get wet,” Tryon told H.N. before he begged her stop as the punishment continued, according to the complaint.
Burton accuses the defendants of disability harassment and discrimination in violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act, civil assault and battery, negligence and negligent hiring, supervision and retention.
She and her son seek compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
The plaintiffs are being represented by Ben Salango and Kristina Salango with Salango Law in Charleston and by Michael Cary with Cary Law Offices in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Duke Bloom.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 23-C-564
