CJ Law holds Riverhead School District Accountable For Cruel Masking Practices
December 2, 2022
By: CJ Law
The Law Office of Chad J. LaVeglia PLLC filed a lawsuit against Riverhead Central School District for its harsh, cruel, inhumane, masking policy & policing. The lawsuit is the first of its kind. It accuses the District of civil rights violations, infliction of emotional distress, unlawful imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child. According to the complaint, the school district treated three young girls like they were less than human. The District treated them like criminals.
According to the complaint: "A child’s innocence can never be replaced, once stolen. When the adults acting as educators become their tormentors, they take away something more precious than education: their innocence. Every child in New York has the right to an education. Schools shield children from the harsh realities of adulthood, while giving them the tools needed to thrive as adults. Parents trust the adults running schools (Educators) to foster their children's development. Not stifle it. Educators are entrusted to lift children up, not bring them down. Schools as an institution, rest on the principle that the Educators in charge do not become the bullies they are sworn to protect children from."
"School is a safe “bubble” for children irrespective of what occurs in the outside world. The institution does not change inside, because of events occurring outside. The institution does not yield to the strife and gloom portrayed daily by the media. Education is a long-term endeavor that takes place over twelve years. The institution must therefore be impervious to politics and perceived popular opinions of the day. COVID-19 exposed the cracks in the foundation. Overall, children were just another brick in the wall."
Parents Were Finally Free To Choose Except in Riverhead
Because of CJ Law and a brave parent named Michael Demetriou, January 25, 2022, was a day of joy and happiness for most children. The Nassau County Supreme Court had just rendered a Decision and Order declaring 10 NYCRR §2.60 (Mask Reg) to be unconstitutional and enjoined the State of New York from enforcing it. Three young girls. (Children or Girls) were ecstatic, for the first time in a while, to go to school. After more than a year of compulsory masking, they were finally free to choose. Their hearts were filled with hope that day. They hoped things were going to get better. They hoped for normalcy. They hoped to breath in fresh air once again. The Riverhead Central School District (RCSD) had other plans, however.
The Children walk into school that day with big, visible smiles. Their smiles quickly dissipate as they walk through the school doors. RCSD staff still required the Girls to wear masks. Despite the law. Despite the Girl’s wellbeing. RCSD had deputized itself as the mask police. Cowardly adults placed their irrational fears over the Girls safety. The Girls were segregated for the entire day. No class. No recess. No education. January 25, 2022, became of day of hopelessness and fear. This was just the beginning though.
Criminals Are Treated Better
In the following week, school became a prison. The Girls bravely refused to put masks back on. They had endured enough. They could not tolerate the masks and had had medical exemptions to prove it. None of them could breathe properly. One girl with an eye condition could not fully see. Another suffered from severe rashes on her face. No student should suffer to receive an education. The Girls simply wanted to end their suffering. They were no threat to anyone.
The District responded by segregating the Girls. For several days, they were completely isolated from the other students. The District did not provide the Girls with breakfast some days. Other days they were not given lunch on time. Sometimes, RCSD failed to give them lunch altogether. Criminals at least get three meals a day. RCSD did not let the Girls go to the bathroom unless two or more students had to go and the halls were empty. And even then, a security guard escorted them. The Girls had to painfully hold it in for what seemed like an eternity. They were isolated from everyone. Further, RCSD did not provide them with the proper educational instruction. The District put these Girls in solitary confinement.
Verbal Abuse, Shaming & Intimidation
One teacher told the Girls that they were diseased, and dangerous. He said they were going to kill others and were selfish for not wearing a mask. RCSD staff yelled at Children--sometimes as much as fifteen times per day--if their masks fell below their noses.The Girls were swiftly yelled at when they pulled their mask down to breathe. Instead of making sure Children were okay, or letting them breath air, RCSD staff forced them to pull up their masks all the way.
Riverhead Abandoned Its Educational Mission
RCSD implemented a COVID-19 policy divorced from an educational setting, logic, and science. No governmental health agency advised the defendants to punish healthy children going to school to learn. RCSD utterly and ineptly failed to train its employees how to interact with Children, in an age-appropriate way, when enforcing public health guidance.COVID-19 did not give RCSD a free hall pass to violate Plaintiffs’ civil rights, deny them an education, attack their mental and physical wellbeing, and break the law. Their conduct is reprehensible, outrageous, and has no place in a free, civilized society. Accordingly, Plaintiffs commenced this lawsuit to hold RCSD accountable and to be made whole."
