Mother alleges bus driver assaulted son, sues Galveston ISD

Numerous Galveston Independent School District employees face a lawsuit from a woman who alleges her son was sexually assaulted by his bus driver. 

Debra Lammon, individually and as next of friend of her minor son identified in the suit only as "X", filed suit July 2 in the Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas against the Galveston Independent School District, by and through the Board of Trustees of Galveston Independent School District, along with 10 named employees of the school district. 

According to the complaint, plaintiff X was homeless and living with his mother at a shelter from May 2003 to 2004 while attending kindergarten at San Jacinto Elementary School. On Oct. 11, 2003, X was allegedly driven by GISD employee Curmit Thomas Hatcher to the defendant's house where X was allegedly sexually assaulted, the suit states. The plaintiffs claim court records show that Hatcher committed a similar offense at least two other times, in September 2003 and April 2004. 

Following the incident, X became increasingly more aggressive in the classroom, which should have been a warning sign, but GISD employees instead separated X from his peers and placed him on suspension several times, the suit states. It wasn't until Lammon took her son to see a psychologist in early 2004 that she discovered the incident perpetrated by Hatcher. 

The defendants are accused of: • Failing to adopt and effectively enforce policies to prevent sexual assault of students by school employees; • Permitting school bus drivers to have unrestrained access to minor students; • Failing to execute and properly train employees in the rights of students to be free of sexual assault or physical violations of their body; • Failing to properly train employees to report reasonable suspicions of child abuse and to ensure equal access to educational opportunities; • Failing to evaluate in good faith its policies and practices for compliance with applicable laws; • Failing to take the steps necessary to overcome the effects of discrimination as required by federal law; and • Failing to execute its policies and provide students molested by employees prompt and effective counseling and mental health treatment.

Lammon is seeking compensatory, actual, punitive and exemplary damages. She is represented by Houston attorneys Vincent K. Lo, Mabel Lee-Lo and Newton B. Schwartz Sr. of the Law Offices of Newton B. Schwartz Sr.

Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas Case No. 4:14-cv-01853   This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and it represents only one side of the story.