From Abubakari v. Schenker, decided last week by Judge Robin Wilson (Conn. Super. Ct.):
The plaintiffs … allege the following facts against the defendant[,] … a social worker employed by the Hamden Board of Education and acting in her capacity as such….
The plaintiffs allege the following. During the 2016-2017 school year, the plaintiffs' minor child U.A. was enrolled at a Hamden elementary school. At a meeting of the school's pupil planning team (PPT), U.A. was identified as a student requiring special education under federal law, and an individual education plan (IEP) was put in place for the child. The PPT also had determined that U.A. would be provided special education, services, and accommodations, including a one-to-one paraprofessional to assist the child with his learning disabilities so that he would be able to transition into the Hamden Middle School and continue to succeed.
For the 2017-2018 school year, U.A. was enrolled at Hamden Middle School and during a PPT meeting in December 2017, the school officials changed his IEP, among other things, to eliminate the one-to-one paraprofessional. Because of the changes to U.A.'s IEP, the child's educational progress regressed, but the school officials continued to socially advance him through his grade. As a result of the regression, the plaintiffs requested reinstatement of the one-to-one paraprofessional and other special services and accommodations in order to reverse the regression. The plaintiffs' requests were denied….
At a PPT meeting on February 13, 2018, the plaintiff Khadijah Abubakari expressly announced that she would pull U.A. out of his enrollment in the Hamden public schools and continue to keep him out until the school district provided him with the special education services and accommodations she believed necessary to allow him to progress successfully. She further announced explicitly and on the record that beginning immediately she would be home-schooling U.A., with the assistance of professional tutoring services the plaintiffs would hire at their own expense, as is specifically provided for and permitted by [Connecticut law].
Despite actual knowledge of the plaintiffs' home-schooling of U.A. in compliance with applicable law, on March 22, 2018, the defendant knowingly and maliciously filed a false complaint with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) claiming that the plaintiffs were educationally neglecting U.A. because he "ha[d] not been in school since February 13, 2018" and that a "[p]arent ha[d] not engaged in communication with school" and a "[p]arent ha[d] been difficult to work with at IEP mtgs. Last meeting was February 13th."
The plaintiffs claimed that the defendant's report to DCF "concealed the fact that she had actual knowledge that the plaintiffs were home-schooling their child in compliance with … Connecticut law," and alleged that, because of defendant's allegedly false report, "DCF launched an investigation of the plaintiffs and ultimately filed a petition for neglect against them in the Superior Court." The court held that the plaintiffs had adequately alleged that defendant's actions constituted tortious intentional infliction of emotional distress:
