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Casey schools sued (September 29, 2012) |
LIBERTY — The mother of an autistic child has filled a lawsuit against the Casey County Board of Education and a special education teacher alleging her son was abused, neglected and intimidated while attending Walnut Hill Elementary School last year.
Ronna Carmicle filed the complaint last week in Casey Circuit Court on behalf of her son, Bradley Carmicle, who attended Walnut Hill as a kindergartener from August through December of 2011. The lawsuit names school board members, Superintendent Linda Hatter, teacher Geraldine Baker Fletcher and other unnamed school employees as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, Bradley was “wantonly and recklessly abused, neglected and intimidated by Fletcher” while he was a student in her classroom, and the board and its employees “created or allowed to exist institutional practices that resulted in chronic neglect, abuse and intimidation of its student.”
Reached by telephone Friday, both Fletcher, who remains on staff at Walnut Hill, and Hatter declined to comment on the allegations made in the complaint.
“It involves litigation and a minor. I am prohibited from talking about it,” Hatter said.
The school board’s insurance carrier will assign an attorney to defend the case, but that hasn’t happened yet, Hatter said.
The lawsuit maintains Fletcher mistreated Brandon “on numerous occasions, each of which constituted assault and battery.” The boy suffered physical pain and mental anguish because of Fletcher’s treatment, the suit contends.
The complaint contains no specific examples of the abuse, neglect and intimidation that Brandon allegedly suffered. Somerset attorney John T. Pruitt Jr., who filed the lawsuit for the Carmicle, declined to provide any details about the allegations on Friday.
“There a still investigations ongoing and we’re hoping some resolution can occur,” Pruitt said. “More information will be made available as the case progresses.”
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages for Brandon’s alleged physical injuries, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and “unnecessary degradation of his personal dignity,” along with past and anticipated medical expenses.
