KLFY News 10

Mother’s lawsuit against LPSS, Youngsville back in federal court

By Emily Enfinger,

2 days ago

LAFAYETTE PARISH, La. ( KLFY ) — A mother’s lawsuit against the Lafayette Parish School System and the city of Youngsville is in federal court for a second time — now with allegations that the school system and city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The suit, first lodged by Kandice Dequeant in August 2023 , was moved to federal court in late July by the city of Youngsville, which cited jurisdictional reasons. The city said in court documents that the action is better suited for federal court because of the mother’s allegations that point to the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

According to case filings, Dequeant claims that Southside High School did not allow the caregiver, hired and assigned by the mother, to pick up her autistic son, Noah, from school on Aug. 17, 2023. Dequeant said that the caregiver had picked up and dropped off Noah from the school multiple times before then.

The mother asserts that her son, Noah, was illegally held on a school bus by the Youngsville Police Department in temperatures greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit for at least three hours.

Dequeant said in the lawsuit that she was visited by a Louisiana Child Protective services investigator the next day, who told her she was reported for child neglect for allegedly not picking up Noah from school or having made arrangements for him to be picked up.

“… the most egregious actions of Southside High School employees was to file and/or make a false report of ‘child neglect’ to the Louisiana department of Child Family services,” Dequeant said in the complaint, and that she believes the report was filed intentionally as “retaliation” against her.

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Case filings show that the city previously sent the action to federal court within weeks of it being filed in state court. However, Dequeant appears to have dismissed the federal claims she had at the time and the case was sent back to state court in November 2023.

In June, Dequeant submitted a fourth amended version of her lawsuit, which alleged that the defendants violated federal and state laws, saying that “at a minimum” the defendants violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and her son’s “right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.”

The city of Youngsville said, in a document filed Aug. 5, that any restraints and/or use of force placed on Noah “was proper and appropriate” for his safety and wellbeing.

LPSS said in a document filed on Aug. 7 that the mother failed to mitigate “any and all” alleged damages, among other things.

Counsel for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment.