Teacher's
'outrageous' punishment spurs suit
Saturday, August 07, 2004 • By TOM QUIGLEY
• The Express-Times
WASHINGTON -- A former Warren Hills Regional Middle
School teacher forced a disabled student to sit in an
unheated storage closet for almost an entire school day,
according to allegations in a lawsuit filed this week.
The suit filed by the boy's mother names former teacher
Dawn Berg and the district board of education as
defendants.
Washington resident Rose Todd alleges her son was seated
in Berg's classroom at 7:45 a.m., Jan. 14.
Berg became agitated when the 13-year-old boy failed to
find his homework and berated him in front of the class, the
suit alleges.
"You make me sick to my stomach," she is alleged to have
said. She also said, "Get out of my face" or words of a
similar nature, according to the lawsuit.
The suit alleges Berg made similar statements to the boy
previously
The teacher punished the boy by forcing him to remain in
the storage area for the remainder of the school day, the
suit alleges.
Washington attorney John F. McDonnell is representing
Todd and her son.
He said the tenured teacher resigned her post from the
school sometime after the incident.
Berg could not be reached for comment, and district
Superintendent Peter Merluzzi did not return a phone message
left at his office Friday.
In a past interview, Merluzzi said the boy was kept in
what he described as a former administrative office.
Merluzzi said the door was kept ajar and a teacher's
aide monitored the boy.
McDonnell said the incident upset the boy to the extent
that he was afraid to go back to school.
"He was afraid of the teacher," McDonnell said.
The attorney said a tenure complaint was filed with the
board Feb. 11 after the teacher was initially allowed to
remain at the school.
"Very shortly after that I was advised that the teacher
was leaving immediately," McDonnell said.
He described the teacher's alleged treatment of the
child as "outrageous."
McDonnell said the boy was apparently only allowed to
leave the room for lunch and to go to the rest room.
"We also have information that the teacher directed the
classroom aide not to tell anybody," McDonnell said.
The suit also alleges Berg refused to speak with a state
Division of Youth and Family Services investigator about the
alleged incident.
The suit filed in state Superior Court in Belvidere
alleges the boy's civil rights were violated.
The middle school on Carlton Avenue in Washington serves
students in the seventh and eighth grades.
Reporter Tom Quigley can be reached at 908-475-8184 or by
e-mail at tquigley@express-times.com.
Copyright 2004 The
Express-Times. Used with permission.
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