Connecticut elementary school in US was on Tuesday sued by a Nigerian father, because his 7-year-old daughter was discriminated against and banned from school for 21 days based on unreasonable fears she might have Ebola.
The little girl Ikeoluwa Opayemi, was said to have attended a wedding along with her father in Lagos, Nigeria earlier between Oct. 2 and Oct. 13, which raised the fear and earned her the 21 days ban.
According to a media report from Reuters, the father of the girl, Stephen Opayemi filed the lawsuit in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut.
He asked the judge to order the schools in Milford, Connecticut, to permit his daughter to return to her third-grade class immediately.
Reports showed that Opayemi’s daughter has not experienced any symptoms associated with Ebola and her health is fine; however, parents and teachers were concerned she could transmit Ebola to other children, the lawsuit said.
“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.
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.
Prashant Batil, a neighbor of the Opayemi family, 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”, he said.
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 impairment.
Milford officials refused the father’s offer to have both himself and his daughter screened for Ebola, the suit said.
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 said.
The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention says there is little or no risk of contracting Ebola unless someone has been in close contact with a person who has it and who is symptomatic.
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.
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