Connecticut elementary school, saying his 7-year-old daughter was
discriminated against and banned from school for 21 days based on
irrational fears of Ebola because she attended a wedding in Nigeria.
From Reuters
Stephen Opayemi filed the lawsuit in federal court in New Haven,
Connecticut. He asked a judge to order the schools in Milford,
Connecticut, to immediately permit his daughter to return to her
third-grade class.
Opayemi's daughter has not experienced any symptoms associated with
Ebola and her health is fine, but parents and teachers were concerned
she could transmit Ebola to other children, the lawsuit says.
The school
"We're hoping this will get her back into school as soon as possible,"
the girl's mother, Ikeolapo Opayemi, said in a brief interview at
their home.
Although the mother declined to discuss details of the lawsuit, citing
the advice of the family's attorney, she said they had lived in
Milford for more than six years.
Asked if she was surprised by the school system's actions, she nodded
in agreement.
Nigeria had 20 Ebola cases and eight deaths this year before the World
Health Organization declared the country Ebola-free on Oct. 19.
The epidemic is centered in three other West African countries, where
about 5,000 people have died: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The Connecticut third-grader, Ikeoluwa Opayemi, traveled to and from
Lagos, Nigeria, between Oct. 2 and Oct. 13, according to the lawsuit.
Her father, a native of Nigeria, also went.
Jonathan Berchem, the Milford city attorney, said he had not seen the
suit and could not comment on it. Elizabeth Feser, the school
superintendent, did not return a call requesting comment but said in
an email she had not been served with the suit.
African communities in the United States have reported an increasing
amount of ostracism since the Ebola epidemic began. At least two
speeches by Liberians have been canceled by U.S. universities, and a
college in Texas refused admission to Nigerian students over worries
about the virus.
A neighbor of the Opayemi family, Prashant Batil, said his 6-year-old
plays often with Ikeoluwa and that he believed the school system was
overreacting.
"The parents are extremely responsible people, and if they say she
does not have Ebola, I would have no reluctance for my daughter to
play with her," Batil said in an interview.
Opayemi's suit was filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The law prohibits discrimination based on someone having a physical or
mental impairment, or on the belief that someone has such an
impairment.
Milford officials refused the father's offer to have both himself and
his daughter screened for Ebola, the suit says.
According to the suit, a city health official said in an Oct. 15
meeting that the risk of the girl infecting anyone was minor but that
she ought to be quarantined because of rumors, panic and the climate
of the school.
City and school officials told Ikeoluwa not to return to school until
Nov. 3, the suit says.
The case is Ikeoluwa Opayemi v. Milford Public Schools and City of
Milford, U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, No.
3:14-cv-01597.
Source: Reuters
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