Eugene, Oregon school settlement - No meltdown intervention

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A Eugene woman has accepted a $30,000 settlement from a local school district and a local nonprofit organization that she sued after her son — who is blind and has autism — was injured during an outburst at school.

Bethel School District officials on Tuesday released a copy of a settlement agreement that it and the nonprofit Bridgeway House reached with Jennifer Canaday of Eugene.

Canaday sought up to $610,000 in a lawsuit she filed last year in Lane County Circuit Court on behalf of her now-adult son, Zane Davis.

The suit alleged that during an incident at Willamette High School in 2014, Bridgeway House employees provoked Davis and then failed to stop him from injuring himself during an outburst.

Bridgeway House contracts with school districts to work with students affected by autism.

Through its insurers, the school district will pay Canaday $19,000 to settle the case. Bridgeway is responsible for paying $11,000 in the agreement.

To bring the case to a close, the district also apologized to Canaday, “acknowledging (she) did not believe the district’s educational program met her child’s needs,” McGillivray said.

Canaday asserted in the lawsuit that her son, who hurts himself when he becomes frustrated or overly stimulated, was injured while in the presence of two Bridgeway House employees.

Canaday alleged that one of the workers grabbed or otherwise “taunt(ed)” Davis during the incident, prompting him to throw himself onto the ground.

Davis hit his head against a brick wall and steel door, and bit himself multiple times, the lawsuit says.

The workers did not stop Davis’ tantrum, and one of them recorded the incident on video. The lawsuit asserts that Davis’ individual behavior plan required the workers to intervene during emergencies.

In a formal response to the lawsuit filed in court, Bridgeway House said Davis had “engaged in self-harm and violence toward staff” during the incident at the high school. The agency admitted that one of its workers had videotaped Davis’ outburst, but denied specific allegations of wrongdoing.

The school district also denied wrongdoing in its formal response to the suit.

According to the settlement agreement, the school district and Bridgeway House deny any liability in the incident involving Davis.