Bergen school district falsely claims student was danger to self and others, lawsuit says

The family of a junior at Pascack Hills High School is accusing the school district and some staff members of creating "an unfathomable nightmare" for the student, all of which stemmed from the student's vaping in a bathroom.

The family is known only as Doe to preserve its anonymity. The parents are immigrants from South Korea, and English is not their first language. They filed a lawsuit on March 28 in state Superior Court saying the student was caught vaping a "legal substance" in the bathroom at Pascack Hills.

On March 29, Superintendent Sarah Bilotti said the district couldn't comment on the lawsuit.

In addition to the district, several school administrators, former Superintendent Daniel Fishbein, some support staff and student-guidance counselors, the psychologist and others are named as defendants. Dr. Derek Berberian, named in the suit, did not immediately return an email for comment.

"At the heart of this lies a series of decisions so misguided that they not only cleaved a family apart, pitting parents against their child, but also led to the student's civil commitment on two separate occasions under circumstances that would have broken an ordinary person," the suit said.

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The lawsuit said the student was subjected to "a regimen of institutionalization and medication," comparing it to the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

It said the student had gotten involved with world events, including the civil war in Syria. The suit accused Pascack Hills High School Principal Timothy Wieland and potentially other defendants of being prejudiced against the student's South Korean origin along with his interest in the Syrian civil war. The suit said his interests caused the student's life to be catapulted "into chaos."

According to the lawsuit, Wieland questioned the student about his travels with his grandparents in 2019 through India, Pakistan, Western China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and why he traveled through "suspicious countries." The suit said he was one of the few Korean students in the school and Wieland's questioning set a "foundation" for the abuses of the student's rights.

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The lawsuit said the student was caught by a security guard vaping and was sent to Vice Principal Charleen Schwartzman's office after he got to class in February 2022.

According to the lawsuit, the child refused to let officials search his backpack without a search warrant, and the school called the police.

The student's father came, and the student and his father were separated, the lawsuit said. At one point, the administration approached the father to show him "evidence" that his son had been watching videos about the Syrian civil war that they said were "Islamic videos." The lawsuit said the administration "accusatorily termed" the videos "as if the child may be a terrorist."

The suit said no one asked the student about the videos and said that if they had, they would have learned about his interest in the Syrian civil war and that the videos were educational for him. Additionally, the administration informed the father that his son would be searched to see if he had any "dangerous materials." The suit said there was no reason to believe there were any.

The father said he had been called to the school because his son had been caught vaping and didn't know why the staff members were bringing up the Syria videos.

When the police failed to find anything on the student, Wieland "demanded" that the student be allowed back to school only if he successfully passed a drug test and underwent a psychiatric evaluation, according to the lawsuit.

The student was suspended for five days, a penalty the suit contended did not follow the district's progressive discipline policies. After the suspension, the district told the family the student would not be allowed to return to Pascack Hills High School and would have to do online coursework through a third party not affiliated with the school. The suit said the district "essentially expelled" the student without due process.

The father asked to be able to select a psychiatrist but was denied by the district, and the suit said the district had no reason to require a psychological assessment or to have him take a drug test.

The district chose Berberian to perform the evaluation, but the suit said he had not been approved by the Board of Education.

The student's drug test came back with negative results, and when he had his psychological evaluation, he did not meet with Berberian but with his physician's assistant, Kori Anderson, over Zoom rather than in person. The lawsuit said the evaluation lasted only 50 minutes and there was no follow-up with the family. Additionally, the suit said Berberian claimed to have been the examiner.

According to the suit, Berberian illegally obtained the student's history and information from someone at the high school when the parents did not authorize it.

The family said the psychologist's report left out critical information that the police report did not find any indication that the student was planning on committing a crime and treated the student like he was a danger to himself and others.

The suit accuses the district and the Berberian defendants of working together to frame the student to "save face." According to the lawsuit, Berberian was "extremely careless" with his reporting and made false findings that resulted in the student being institutionalized.

The suit said his institutionalization "created a devastating rift between the child and his parents, who were led to believe that their son was dangerous to himself and others."

The suit said because of the lack of transparency and the parents being immigrants, they were led to believe their child was a threat "without a clear understanding of the school's assessments or reasons" for their son's exclusion from the school. The lawsuit said the parents began searching for inpatient facilities for their son because they were led to believe he needed treatment for the safety of himself and others.

The parents found Newport Academy in Connecticut and were told they could commit the student to the facility even if he objected and said they would provide a company to pick him up. According to the lawsuit, on March 26, 2022, two men came to pick up the student in the middle of the night.

The difficulties continued until a psychologist hired by the parents determined the child to not be a danger to himself or others, but the district refused to allow him to re-enroll in the school, the lawsuit said.

The suit said the defendants violated state laws against discrimination and the family's civil rights, committed negligence, fraud and conspiracy, and intentionally and negligently inflicted emotional distress.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Pascack Hills falsely claims student was a danger: lawsuit