Lawsuit says teachers aide subjected to daily abuse from students

Posted: Jul 2, 2009 12:23 PM
Updated: Jul 2, 2009 1:41 PM

A woman who worked as a teacher's aide at a Caddo Parish school has filed suit against the school system, saying she and others in the classroom were subjected to daily physical and verbal abuse from two students and school officials did not help her.

 Mildred Dennis worked in an atmosphere of "willful indifference to the safety and well-being of its instructional and paraprofessional staff," said the lawsuit filed this week in federal district court in Shreveport. Dennis said she was "in a work environment where physical and emotional injury were a certainty." 

 The School Board's attorney said they will fight the lawsuit.

 Dennis worked as a teacher's aide at Huntington High School in Shreveport. She was physically and verbally abuse by two special-needs students she was assigned to help, the lawsuit said.

 One of them sprayed air freshener in her eyes, cursed her and groped her, the lawsuit said. She complained to the principal and after 14 months was reassigned to another student in the class, the lawsuit said.

 That student was disruptive in class and hit both Dennis and other students, the lawsuit said.

  "Every day they were present, (the two students) committed at least one violent act toward Ms. Dennis, their teacher or another student," the lawsuit said. School administrators did not fix the situation, Dennis said.

  The lawsuit, which seeks monetary damages for physical injury and emotional distress, was filed on Tuesday. Dennis, who had asked for a transfer early this year, was re-assigned to another school after the suit was filed, said her attorney Pam Jones.

 Dennis was on sick leave when the school year ended. The doctor who treated her for injuries that did not require hospitalization told her she could not return to the classroom, Jones said. 

 The School Board's attorney did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.

 Brian Carnie, the attorney representing the School Board in the lawsuit, declined comment on the specifics of the suit, citing confidentiality issues.

  "The Caddo Parish School Board intends to vigorously defend the charges," Carnie said. "Because the lawsuit's allegations involve the conduct of two current special education students and involves personnel issues involving a current employee, we are unable to provide any additional comment, for confidentiality reasons."

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