A Nigerian father (pictured above) has sued a school in the US, 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
