The family of Alex Barton, a kindergarten student with Asperger’s syndrome will file a civil suit alleging discrimination and that Alex’s civil rights were violated.
Alex’s Morningside Elementary teacher, Wendy Portillo, allowed his classmates to tell him what they thought of his behavior, while he stood in front of the class, according to police reports of the incident. Portillo told investigators Alex had been misbehaving and had two disciplinary referrals that day.
The class then voted whether Alex should be allowed to stay in the class. Alex lost, 14 to 2.
Alex was officially diagnosed less than a week later with an autism-spectrum disorder, Barton said. He began the process of being tested for the disorder in February, at the suggestion of Morningside Principal Marcia Cully. Barton has said the teacher knew about the testing at the time of the vote.
Get ready to pay up, St. Lucie County School District.
Tags: Alex Barton, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Disablity, Discrimination, Elementary, Florida, Lawsuit, St. Lucie, Wendy Portillo
Your Daily Chum 
June 8, 2008 at 8:31 pm |
I shall be interested to see how things pan out.
Best wishes
June 9, 2008 at 7:29 pm |
Good! I was hoping this would happen. A message needs to be sent that this won’t be tolerated. More power to the family.
April 6, 2009 at 8:55 am |
I am not surprised. That was the intention from the very beginning. To develop support for a ridiculous cause and then see how much money could be gained from it.