Pocono News Section

Landmark Settlement in Teacher Abuse Case

Landmark Settlement in Teacher Abuse Case - Friday, May 28, 2010 at 04:07AM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Friday May 28 2010
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY - Its a landmark settlement worth millions in Lackawanna County federal court. The case involves the families of seven children with autism, who were allegedly abused by a teacher.

The families of those seven students will share 5 million dollars. It all surrounded the case of former teacher Susan Wzorek, who pleaded no contest to abuse in county court. The families of the young kids were so upset she only got house arrest that they took civil action, which was just resolved Thursday night.

Standing outside the federal courthouse in Scranton the attorneys for seven autistic students, who were allegedly abused by their teacher between 2001 and 2003, announced a five million dollar settlement in the case.

They claimed the students were tied to chairs like this with bungee cords and duct tape and even abused. Attorney Larry Moran said, We think this case sends important signals...that children with special needs need to have special protections.

The case involved the actions of former teacher Susan Wzorek. She pleaded no contest to charges in county court, but attorneys say the problems went much further, including a cover-up.

The Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit (NEIU) and the Abington Heights School District were also named in the suit. Attorney James Conaboy said, They were supposed to report the abuse to the District Attorney's office. Instead there was a cover-up. They even threatened aides.

According to the seven individual settlements the autistic children will each receive varying amounts of money. The largest single payout is 1.2 million dollars.

The families did not attend Friday's announcement because those involved are juveniles. The trauma these kids suffered was so severe. The effects that were suffered...they will never recover from fully," said Moran.

Our calls to the Abington Heights School District for comment were not returned. As for the NEIU, their voicemail said the schools were closed for the holiday so we could not get their reaction.