Local News in Brief : Orange : Handicapped Student Can Sue School District

A severely handicapped student who was forced to work as a school janitor can sue the Orange Unified School District, an appellate court ruled Monday.

The student, Shannon Reynolds, sued the district in 1985 for “failure to educate, emotional distress and loss of wages” because he was required to pick up trash for two class periods each day.

Reynolds was enrolled in the district in 1975, when he was 7, and diagnosed as learning disabled, according to the appellate opinion. He was reclassified “severely handicapped, seriously emotionally disturbed” in 1980 and placed in an intensive treatment program for a year, before being returned to a learning-disabled program. His parents requested residential placement but were refused by the district. They arranged private residential treatment for their son in 1984.

Reynolds sought $500,000 in damages in the lawsuit, which charged that he was “warehoused” by the district.

Reynolds appealed to the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana after a lower court rejected the suit.

The appellate court affirmed most of the lower court’s decision but ruled that the former student can recover damages for emotional distress. Whether the district’s conduct was outrageous and caused Reynolds serious emotional pain should be decided at trial, the appellate court held.

District officials could not be reached for comment.