The family of a boy who was allegedly forced to urinate himself in front of his classmates before being ordered to wear a trash bag for the remainder of the day has filed a lawsuit against a Los Angeles school district.
Sonia Mongol, the mother of the then eight-year-old boy, says she’s been battling for months to try and get justice for her son, but after the Los Angeles Unified School District ignored her pleas, she saw a lawsuit as her only option.
Mongol’s son, a former student at the Manhattan Place Elementary School, was allegedly refused access to the bathroom back in November last year.
When he could hold it no longer, his teacher allegedly offered him the option of urinating into a trash can in the classroom and expose ‘himself in front of all the other students’.
Sonia Mongol, the mother of the then eight-year-old boy, says she’s been battling for months to try and get justice for her son, but after the Los Angeles Unified School District ignored her pleas, she saw a lawsuit as the only option
Last November, Sonia says her eight-year-old son (above) was forced to wet himself in front of classmates and was later dressed in a trash bag to cover his damp clothes
In her lawsuit, Mongol says she was not informed that her son was forced to wear the bags, and accuses the district of being negligent in their hiring and training of staff, as well as negligently supervising her son
Mongol’s son wet himself and was reportedly forced to sit in his urine-soaked clothes. He was later given two trash bag to wear over them, which he kept on for the rest of the day.
In her lawsuit, Mongol says she was not informed that her son was forced to wear the bags, and accuses the district of being negligent in their hiring and training of staff, as well as negligently supervising her son.
She said her son also went to the nurse’s office to seek assistance ‘but he received no help’.
‘Why would you make a child expose himself in front of the classroom and then put a garbage bag over him when he came to you for help? Why would you treat a child that way?’ Mongol rhetorically asked during a press conference outside the school in March. ‘He’s a kid.’
Mongol’s son was severely bullied as a result of the incident. However, after moving him to another school in the same district, he was once again denied access to the bathroom by a substitute teacher.
The boy attends the Manhattan Place Elementary School in South LA, where the first incident took place last year
Protesters gathered outside the elementary school on Thursday requested a meeting with Samos, but the school’s doors were not opened
The teacher reportedly told him that if he went to the bathroom he would be locked out of the classroom. When the child returned, he was in fact locked out, Mongol said.
She’s accusing the Los Angeles Unified School District of failing its students.
After the school’s Principal, Evelyn Samos (above), allegedly repeatedly refused to discuss the matter with Mongol, she along with a number of prosecutors and protesters rallied outside of the school in March
‘I just think about how he must have felt as a child that day…because small children and children don’t understand, they just go to adults to try to help them, and they failed him,’ Mongol said, according to KCAL.
A spokesperson from the district said they weren’t able to comment on a pending litigation, but assured they remain ‘committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all students’.
After the school’s Principal, Evelyn Samos, allegedly repeatedly refused to discuss the matter with Mongol, she along with a number of prosecutors and protesters rallied outside of the school in March.
The building doors however stayed locked and Samos never emerged.
Supporting Mongol was retired LA teacher Latricia Mitchell, who said teachers can refuse a student’s bathroom request – as the privilege is often abused – but when asked twice ‘they should realize something’s going on.’
Had [the parents] been called, they could have picked him up early, they could have brought him fresh clothing.’ Mongol’s attorney Toni Jaramilla said at the time. ‘He needed to be treated with compassion and kindness, and not with punishment and disregard and humiliation.’
Jaramilla insisted there’s no defense, as school policy makes it clear that restrooms must be available to serve students throughout the day.
The family wants to hold everyone involved in the incident accountable with the hope it will lead to positive changes in the school system, including stronger enforcement of the district’s own policies.
‘When something or someone harms any of our children, especially in a school setting, it affects all of us. It affects our community,’ Jaramilla said.
The teacher who put the trash bags on Mongol’s son no longer works at the school, ABC 7 reported.