MOUNT CARMEL - Attorneys representing the Mount Carmel Area School District are being accused of holding up a legal settlement for a family that contends their mentally challenged son was verbally and physically abused by a bus driver.
A lawsuit was originally filed in October in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on behalf of Mason M., a 6-year-old child with disabilities, including mental retardation, and his parent, Stephanie M., as they are identified in court documents.
The original suit named just the Mount Carmel Area School District and the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit (CSIU), Montandon, as defendants, but an amended complaint filed Dec. 29 added the district's school bus provider, Marvin E. Klinger Inc., RR1 Dornsife.
According to an April 18 letter from the plaintiff's attorney, Dennis C. McAndrews, all parties reached a settlement on the case in principle, but asked that the court retain jurisdiction of the matter for 90 days, since the settlement can't be considered final until approved by the board of school directors.
Jones then filed an order the next day saying the action was dismissed "without costs and without prejudice to the right of either party, upon good cause shown, to reinstate the action within 90 days if the settlement is not reached."
In a letter dated Thursday, Klinger's attorney, Charles E. Haddick Jr., of Dickie, McCamey and Chilcote law firm, Camp Hill, asked U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones III for a teleconference to discuss the issue. He blames Mount Carmel Area for failing to end the case and attempting to put the blame on the bus company.
"(The district) is now apparently unwilling to agree to the mutuality and global nature of the release for purposes of what I anticipate would be to initiate further litigation in which the district attempts to recoup its settlement contribution from (Klinger) by way of a contribution and/or indemnity claim," Haddick wrote.
He asked the judge whether, if an agreement can't be reached, everyone involved could try to obtain partial settlement with the plaintiffs, with any remainder of litigation moving forward.
Edward Greco, solicitor for the school district, said the suit was referred to the district's insurance carrier, who provided attorneys to handle the case. Carl Beard, Altoona, lead counsel for the insurance firm, did not return calls for comment Monday.
Meanwhile, the judge has scheduled the teleconference for Wednesday.
Allegations of abuse
According to the complaint, the alleged abuse occurred during the 2008-2009 school year. At that time, the CSIU was responsible for special education services for Mason, and both the CSIU and Mount Carmel Area were responsible for his transportation to and from school programs.
During that year, the child rode a bus driven by Janice Bowman. Six other disabled children and a bus aide, either employed by Klinger or the school district, were also on the bus.
During the first half of the school year, according to the family's filing, Mason's bus driver would verbally abuse him, and at times would intentionally arrive early at the child's pick-up location, only to leave before he could board the bus.
During this period, Stephanie noticed her son's behavioral issues worsened. She asked permission to ride on the bus to observe Mason's behavior, but Mount Carmel Area denied her request, according to her lawsuit.
After learning of the verbal abuse, the mother reported the driver to the district on several occasions, with no action taken, she claims.
In December 2008, the mother of another child on Mason's bus witnessed the driver roughly thrust two fingers on Mason's head, push him into his seat, smack his legs, and roughly turn him around in his seat when Mason was kicking it, the suit alleges.
The second mother informed the district and the CSIU the day of the incident, but when no action was taken, she went to Stephanie on Feb. 12, 2009.
"Although the defendants all knew or should have known about the assault on Mason on or very near the day it occurred, not only did they fail to alert the parent, but they also failed to take any steps to rectify the situation," the affidavit reads.
Stephanie went to the district and asked for a new bus driver, but the district and Klinger refused, forcing her to provide Mason's transportation for four months, until the end of the school year, she claims in her lawsuit.
The family alleges the incidents have hindered Mason's education, interfered with his ability to communicate with others and to meaningfully participate with his peers, which kept him away from appropriate services and "excluded him from the mainstream of his school, his community, his family and to equal access to educational benefits."
Defendants deny claims
All three defendants filed separate answers to the suit, and all three denied the allegations.
"The district lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to what may have occurred on the school bus, if at all," Mount Carmel Area wrote in its response. "By way of further response, the district denies that the witness notified the district of the alleged incident as described."
The first the district heard of the incident was when Stephanie contacted the transportation coordinator in February, the response says, but claims Stephanie refused to come to the school to discuss the matter with Superintendent Cheryl Latorre.
Both Klinger and the CSIU denied the allegations as well, giving the same response to many of the claims: "The defendant (or CSIU) is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegations set forth in this paragraph."
Other incidents
Mount Carmel Area and Marvin E. Klinger Inc. have had two other issues in the past several years involving busing service.
In January 2009, a 6-year-old boy was left on a bus for 90 minutes on a day when temperatures were 15 to 20 degrees. The bus driver was suspended for one day.
In 2010, a driver for Klinger's was fined and sentenced to house arrest on criminal charges after she struck a sign, knocking off a bus mirror, during an erratic ride on Route 61 in the Kulpmont area. Police found three different prescription medications in her system. The driver had completed her run for the day and no children were on the bus at the time. She was removed from the Mount Carmel Area School District bus driver list and later fired by Marvin E. Klinger Inc.