Guardian of disabled student makes claims of discrimination, assault in lawsuit against Russellville School District

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The legal guardian of a child with cerebral palsy filed a discrimination lawsuit on Monday against the Russellville School District and a number of its employees.

Daryl Matheis sued the Cole County R-1 School District, along with teachers and paraprofessionals, after claiming disability discrimination, sex discrimination, retaliation, battery, assault and false imprisonment. The Missouri Commission on Human Rights issued Matheis a notice of right to sue on March 3.

The petition makes several claims of abuse, including that employees had restrained the now 9-year-old boy multiple times, one of which resulted in damaging his communication device. The lawsuit claims after the first incident, the district did not follow its own policy of sending a written notification to the boy’s guardian “within a set number of days.”

In September 2024, the lawsuit claims the school nurse and paraprofessionals at the school declined to help the boy use a chair -- that allows the youth to use the restroom – because he was a male.

The petition also claims the boy was once punished by being made to stand outside during frigid temperatures while wearing “only socks on his feet.”

The lawsuit also makes an allegation that the boy was verbally berated by staff “to such a severe degree that other students told their parents about the yelling who then then forwarded that information to” the boy’s guardians. The plaintiff claims the district retaliated by “changing the procedure for pickup” for the student.

ABC 17 News reached out to the school district.