School worker seen on video throwing 9-year-old student across room in Oregon, suit says
A 9-year-old boy with disabilities was thrown across a classroom by a school worker in Oregon, a lawsuit says.
The child’s mother, Tiria Jones, filed the lawsuit against the Multnomah Education Service District in Portland after she saw video footage of the incident on Sept. 7, 2021, according to a complaint filed March 14.
The boy had just started at a new school days before the incident. Jones moved him to Four Creeks School for third grade to be placed with a Black teacher because his educational team believed he’d have a better experience there as a Black student, among other reasons, the complaint states.
On his fifth day at his new school, he was ripping paper from a door in the school’s hallway when an employee grabbed him and pushed him into a seclusion room, the complaint states.
When he tried to put his foot out of the door, the worker is seen swinging the door open and throwing the child across the room, according to the complaint citing the video.
The child hit his head and then curled into a ball after falling to the ground, the complaint says. The worker then closed the door and left the boy alone in the room, according to the lawsuit.
Laura Conroy, spokesperson for the school district, told McClatchy News they could not comment on the pending litigation but said the allegations are “deeply concerning.”
Jones says the school initially told her they had lawfully restrained her son in another classroom after he climbed on top of a bookshelf and was “spitting and kicking at staff,” the complaint states.
But after he told her “somebody picked me up and threw me,” she insisted on seeing the video of the event, according to attorneys in a news release from the Oregon Law Center representing the mother.
“I decided to file a lawsuit because I do not want any family to go through what we have gone through,” Jones said. “I can’t help but think about how this never would have been discovered if I hadn’t asked to see the video. The district needs to understand the harm this caused and make changes to keep all students safe from abuse in the future.”
Conroy said the school workers are trained in safety protocols to keep students and teachers safe when a child’s behavior begins to endanger themselves or others.
Some of the school’s protocols include a “holds and seclusion rooms,” she said. Each time a student is put in a hold or seclusion room, their parents are notified by the school, she said.
“It is our priority to keep students and staff safe while they are learning the skills they need to become resilient, strong, successful learners and community members,” Conroy said.
Four Creeks School would not tell Jones which staff member was involved or give her any other information about the incident, the complaint says.
Conroy also declined to identify the worker to McClatchy News, citing their identity as confidential.
