Boy, 10 with Life-Threatening Allergies, Faced Discrimination, Retaliation by Elite Long Island School District, Suit Charges

Syosset principal forced boy to lunch next to garbage cans, take exams on the floor, after his parents sought school’s cooperation in dealing with his allergies, learning disabilities.

CARLE PLACE, NY (May, 2011) -- The parents of a learning disabled Syosset boy who suffers from life-threatening allergies have sued the elite Syosset Central School District and an elementary school principal claiming school officials failed to adequately accommodate their son and then retaliated against him after they complained of his mistreatment in an effort to force the parents to remove him from school.

The federal lawsuit by Perri and Joseph Mekalainas alleges among other things that Joanne Mannion, principal of the Berry Hill School since 2007, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminating against their son, Christian, now 10 and a fourth grader at the school.

The suit, filed on behalf of the Mekalainases by Jeffrey Brown, of the Carle Place law firm, Leeds Morelli & Brown, P.C., seeks unspecified compensatory damages, punitive damages and a stop to the discrimination.

“The Syosset School District is not above the law. It is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure that students, such as Christian, are safe at school and have the same educational opportunities as their peers,” Brown said. “As is very clear from the experiences of Perri and Joseph Mekalainas cited in this lawsuit, students such as their son, Christian, in Syosset are not safe at school.”

Filed today, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the suit alleges, among other things, that the boy was:

• Forced to eat lunch next to garbage cans in the school cafeteria
• Required to take exams on the floor outside of his classroom
• Eating lunch alone in classroom since principal removed peanut-free table
• Denied additional teaching assistance

The suit, which claims violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal and state laws, alleges that the school district denied Christian his right to a free, appropriate public education and discriminated against him in his participation in educational services, programs and activities on the basis of his disability.

Christian’s potentially fatal allergies, which can cause him to go into anaphylactic shock, include dairy products, peanuts, eggs, dust, trees, cat dander, paints, latex and various cleaning products, according to court papers. He has been hospitalized several times to treat anaphylactic shock and, as a result, suffers anxieties about exposure to allergens.

The suit also alleges that after the Mekalainases complained to Mannion about the failure to adequately accommodate their son, the principal retaliated against them by failing to enforce the clear directions of their son’s Individual Educational Program, removing his access to educational assistance, spreading false and malicious rumors about the boy and his family among the staff and administrators, harassing, intimidating and ostracizing Christian at school and removing his peanut-free lunchroom table and forcing him to eat next to the cafeteria’s garbage, potentially exposing him to allergens.

The suit also claims that Mannion removed the school’s peanut-free lunch table, because it took up too much space.

“Mannion has discriminated against Christian on the basis of his disabilities by attempting to drive Christian out of the school and/or force him into a self-contained classroom where he would be segregated from the rest of the student body,” the suit alleges.

School district officials “had knowledge of Mannion’s widespread pattern of misconduct and violation of the plaintiff’s rights, but refused to take any remedial or corrective actions,” according to court documents. The district is charged with negligence in failing to supervise the principal and consenting to “Mannion’s extreme and outrageous behavior” toward the Mekalainases.

The boy’s parents claim that Mannion also refused to take reasonable precautions to ensure his safety, subsequent to incidents that violated his food allergy management plan. They also allege that the school failed to notify them for months after Christian’s academic work was suffering.

Moreover, according to the suit, stress induced by Mannion’s treatment of her son, forced his mother, a physician, to obtain medical treatment and reduce her own workload. She also was prevented from participating as a class parent assisting on school trips and parties.

The parents claim that Mannion micromanaged the boy’s daily activities with an intent to harass and intimidate him, including having him brought to her office for no reason and making him take exams on the floor outside his classroom. She also allegedly revoked Christian’s access to teaching assistants, in violation of his IEP.

The district superintendent, Dr. Carole Hankin, and the president of the board of education, Dr. Marc Hermann, did not respond to advisory letters sent by the parents seeking help from the administration, according to the suit.