HUNTINGTON – The parents of a Huntington High School special needs student say his teacher verbally and physically abused him.
P.B., through his parents identified as C.B. and R.B., filed the complaint in Cabell Circuit Court against the Cabell County Board of Education. The parents name themselves as plaintiffs as well. The lawsuit notes that C.B., the mother, works for the board and often at Huntington High herself.
According to the complaint, P.B. is a legal adult who lives with parents. He has significant developmental challenges and an academic age below kindergarten. He requires “continuous adult assistance” throughout the day, including tasks such as toileting, hygiene and for safety.
Akers
| File photo
“This is a very unfortunate situation that even more unfortunately appears to be a pattern based upon court filings in other Cabell County cases,” attorney J.B. Akers told The West Virginia Record. “My clients are extremely decent, hard-working parents whose only interest was in protecting their special needs son who cannot protect himself.
“We tried to work with Cabell County Schools, but at the end of the day we got nowhere. My clients never wanted this to go to court, but here we are. Something must change, and my clients hope their son’s case will result in better days ahead for him and other vulnerable kids.”
P.B. is classified by the BOE as Intellectual Disability – Moderate Impairment, Communication Disorder and Delayed Developmental Milestones. He has been diagnosed with Partial Trisomy Chromosome I, Partial Monosomy Chromosome 2, Mild Congestive Cardiomyopathy and Cortical Visual Impairment. He requires speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy.
The complaint says P.B. sometimes need someone to hold his hand to keep him safe. And because he can’t be asked routine questions, he can’t report it if he is harmed.
On November 2, his parents received an anonymous note in their mailbox saying P.B. was treated with physical and verbal aggression by his teacher on October 6. It goes on to say that while the teacher’s misconduct was witnessed by other school employees, no mandatory reporting occurred despite laws requiring it.
The next day, the parents’ attorney contacted the board’s general counsel and asked to review mandatory classroom video from October 6 as well as video from April 4, 2022. That date was requested because of suspicions the parents had after receiving the anonymous letter.
On November 9, the parents reviewed the October 6 video. They say they were shocked by the contents.
“P.B. is seen quietly standing near the door of his classroom,” the complaint states. “At some point, his main teacher enters the room. Then, for no apparent reason, (she) aggressively grabs P.B., forces him into his chair and physically holds him there while verbally disciplining him in an openly hostile manner.
“The video showed absolutely no precursor to P.B.’s teacher’s actions, which appeared completely random and were arguably if not clearly a criminal assault and battery. During that exchange, P.B.’s aide became visibly upset and at some point made an excuse to leave the room.”
The parents say P.B. then exhibited non-verbal cues they recognized as signs of distress, such as rocking in his chair and staying silent for an extended period.
“P.B.’s teacher continued making verbally aggressive and insulting comments to P.B. following her forceful restraint of him.”
When the parents asked for an extended and higher quality version of the footage to see what might have happened before to result in the actions, the board attorney called someone at Huntington High, who immediately emailed a better video.
While the extended video didn’t explain why the teacher assaulted P.B., the parents say it did show P.B. had a minor accident involving his bathroom challenges. They also say the video “glitched” at a time P.B. was shown hitting his head on the desk, which is another sign of distress for him.
During a November 16 meeting about P.B.’s educational needs, the parents were provided another anonymous letter that also had been sent to the board containing similar allegations and saying it wasn’t the first time the teacher had engaged in such conduct.
On November 23, the parents met with board representatives about the matter. An investigator admitted to seeing 20 minutes of video from October 6, which was about twice as much as the parents had seen before. No explanation was given about why the investigator could see it, but the parents couldn’t.
The parents also were told Child Protective Services had completed a disposition report with no further work recommended. It was the first time the parents had heard about such a report because no one from CPS contacted them and no one from the board alerted them to the investigation.
That day, the parents requested copies of the CPS reports about their son. They also requested the full October 6 video. The board’s general counsel never responded to those requests.
In December, the teacher in question completed a 30-day suspension with pay, but she didn’t return to school under after the holiday break. The parents had been told they’d get a “heads up” before the teacher returned to school, but they didn’t receive such notice.
The board moved P.B. to a different classroom, but the parents say it actually had a negative effect on him because he was moved from his regular peer group and his educational plan was changed from its normal post-graduate curriculum.
“CCBOE therefore more effectively accommodated its own teacher who committed misconduct, by removing P.B. from her, than it accommodated P.B. when it forced a special needs student to change his well-defined education routine,” the complaint states.
The parents say they soon learned of another instance of alleged abuse against another Huntington High special needs student they say has similarities to their issue, including it being a bathroom accident, staffers failing and refusing to provide answers to the parents and also failing to provide evidence (such as video) to the parents.
“CCBOE’s treatment of the plaintiffs in this matter is therefore clearly a pattern of conduct and not simply a ‘one off’ or anomaly,” the complaint states.
Because the mother is a board employee who sometimes works at Huntington High, the plaintiffs allege P.B. was treated differently.
“By example, P.B.’s teacher’s husband is also a CCBOE employee at Huntington High (who) made negative comments about both P.B. and C.B. after his wife’s October 6, 2022, misconduct was reported,” the complaint states. “This includes … criticism of C.B. for advocating that P.B. receive a standard classroom computer (C.B. has no idea why this was a complaint, especially since P.B.’s IEP notes he highly values his computer) along with blaming C.B. for any discipline against P.B.’s teacher.
“In other words, C.B. and R.B. have a reasonable basis to believe their son will be treated adversely solely because of his parent’s justified legal reporting of their son’s mistreatment and protection of his rights. In short, the plaintiffs were subjected to ‘victim blaming’ for simply meeting with CCBOE after receiving an anonymous letter. Plaintiffs never demanded any disciplinary action against anyone, although it was obviously warranted.”
It goes on to say P.B. likely would end up in the teacher’s classroom this fall because she is the only teacher in the post-graduate program.
“P.B.’s parents are therefore currently faced with the impossible dilemma of P.B. returning to the class of a teacher who physically and verbally mistreated him, and whose husband appears to blame P.B. and his family for that event, or sacrificing some level of his education experience by removing him from his normal post-graduate studies,” the complaint states. “Plaintiffs did their best to work cooperatively with CCBOE in this process.
“Ultimately, CCBOE brought this lawsuit upon itself through its complete and utter failure to continue communicating with the plaintiffs, by forcing P.B. into an impossible educational choice and by exhibiting a pattern of misconduct with special needs students at Huntington High.”
The plaintiffs accuse the board of negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, willful misconduct, constitutional violations, negligent supervision and retention and violation of the state Human Rights Act.
They seek compensatory and punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
The plaintiffs are being represented by Akers with Akers Law Offices in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Alfred E. Ferguson.
After the school board didn’t respond to the complaint in a timely manner, Akers filed a motion for default for the plaintiffs. After that motion was filed, the board responded and said it received the complaint May 10, just days after it was filed. It offered no defense for failing to answer other than saying the “wrong person” was served, according to the plaintiffs’ reply to that response.
Just this year, there have been at least three other lawsuits filed related to alleged mistreatment of special needs students in Cabell County Schools. One was at Huntington High School, another was at Cabell Midland High School and the third was at the Explorer Academy.
Cabell Circuit Court case number 23-C-150
