Family whose autistic teen died in sweltering bus reaches $23.5-million settlement
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The family of an autistic teenager who died in 2015 after being left alone for hours on a sweltering bus has reached a $23.5-million settlement with the bus agency, attorneys said.
Hun Joon “Paul” Lee, 19, was found on the floor of a bus parked in a Whittier bus yard on Sept. 11, 2015 — a 96-degree day — and the non-verbal teenager was pronounced dead after life-saving efforts failed. The bus driver, Armando Abel Ramirez of Rialto, did not check the rear of the bus to ensure Lee had left.
In December 2015, Lee’s parents filed a lawsuit against the bus agency, Pupil Transportation Cooperative, and the Whittier Union High School District. The district was dropped as a defendant when it became clear “the evidence was overwhelmingly against the bus company,” Brian Panish, the family’s lawyer, said.
Ramirez was sentenced to two years in prison in January for felony dependent adult abuse resulting in death.
The incident involving Lee was not the first time the company’s drivers had left children on their buses.
In a deposition conducted by the family’s lawyers, Debbie LaJoie — director of transportation for the company at the time of Lee’s death — said that to her knowledge, four special-education students besides Lee had been left on a bus between 2006 and 2015. None of the drivers had been terminated after those incidents, LaJoie said.
In 2016, Lee’s parents lobbied the state to pass regulations aimed at improving child safety on buses. Last fall, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law requirements that all buses in California be equipped with child safety alarms to be deactivated by a driver before leaving the bus.
The law, which will go into effect in the 2018-2019 school year, will also mandate that drivers receive annual training for child safety to renew their bus driver safety certificate.
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“Self Acceptance is a process not a performance”
“You are autistic enough. And you always have been”
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.