MORGANTOWN – The parents of a special needs student say their son was subjected to various forms of physical and verbal abuse by school employees.
Autumn and Justin Wise, as parents of Z.W., and Austin Wise individually filed the complaint August 22 in Monongalia Circuit Court against the Monongalia County Board of Education, Christian Areford, Diana Ellis, Sharon Dunn and Destiny Powers.
Areford and Ellis are special needs teachers at North Elementary School, and Dunn and Powers worked in the special needs classroom there as well. The complaint says Ellis was not certified to teach special education, also stating once she was “never interviewed” for the job and the school board “hired (her) immediately.”
This isn’t the first lawsuit related to mistreatment of special needs students at North Elementary.
Z.W. is a disabled nonverbal child diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD and anxiety. Because of his disabilities, the boy suffers from gross motor and speech delays, fine motor delays, flight risk, hyperactivity and inability to focus among other limitations. He also wears pull-up diapers and needs assistance with toileting.
According to the complaint, video footage provided by the school board shows school staff subjecting the boy to various forms of physical and verbal abuse as well as deprivation and neglect.
Some of the examples of physical abuse listed in the 20-page complaint include Areford pulling the boy to the table and twisting his arm for noncompliance; Ellis smacking and pushing him, yanking him, twisting his arm and other rough handling; Powers physically abusing him by grabbing, pushing and pulling him and by twisting his arm to force compliance; Dunn grabbing him by his shirt and throwing him to the floor before being sent to the school nurse with a suspicious “head bump” that occurred off camera when Areford took him to the restroom; and Dunn putting the boy in a headlock.
The complaint also says Dunn sat on another student in the room and that other students were pushed, pulled, grabbed, smacked and ridiculed in the presence of Z.W.
Some of the examples of verbal abuse listed in the complaint include Ellis threatening the boy that she was going to “hurt” him if he didn’t do as he was told; Powers responding “Mom’s not here” when the boy cried out for his mother when he was being restrained; Ellis telling the entire class “I think I might hit someone today;” Ellis telling the boy, “Get out, you don’t have to use the bathroom. You pee your pants like a baby;” Areford telling the boy she was going to punch him; Ellis calling him a “little shit;” Areford threatening to break his hand; and Ellis and Powers ridiculing the boy for crying and making other noises when he was upset.
Ellis also was seen telling another student she was going to “beat his butt” if he didn’t behave and another she was “going to hurt you; I’m going to hurt you so bad.”
The complaint says the staff members routinely refused or neglected to take Z.W. to the restroom, leaving him in wet pull-ups for extended periods. It says Ellis also demanded a child clean up the mess after a toileting accident and threatening to wipe the child’s face in the urine, saying “Wipe it up with your hands … Does that taste good?”
It also says Ellis pushed toy blocks wet with urine toward Z.W. and saying, “Here you go, buddy.”
The complaint also says staff members often misused a behavioral restraint commonly known as a “bear hugger” on Z.W. It says the device is meant for short-term use to calm the boy’s behaviors and “not for staff convenience or as an instrument of torture.” It lists multiple incidents of this seen on the videos.
It also says staff members routinely refused to provide Z.W. and other students with beverages, once telling a student, “You can die of thirst today, boy!” when he begged for a Gatorade. It says Areford once didn’t open the boy’s drink for him at lunch, and he went some days without anything to drink the entire day. It also says Areford once took a water bottle from the boy’s lunchbox and drank it herself.
The plaintiffs accuse the defendants of negligence, negligent hiring, negligent training, negligent retention, negligent supervision, violations of the West Virginia Human Rights Act, a tort of outrage, loss of filial consortium, assault and battery.
In addition to the physical and mental injuries he sustained, the parents say they had to remove Z.W. from public school because of the actions of the defendants, depriving him of the benefits of public special education programming. He now is home schooled.
They say they have suffered economic damages with schooling costs, treatment costs, loss of employment and other pecuniary losses. Autumn Wise says she has suffered severe emotional distress that has required treatment and medical expenses.
They seek compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
The plaintiffs are being represented by Sharon F. Iskra of Bailey Glasser in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Perri J. DeChristopher.
Monongalia Circuit Court case number 24-C-289
