Mom sues Ohio school after eighth-grade daughter was strip-searched by teachers seeking vape pen

The mother of an eighth grader is suing an Ohio high school after her daughter was forced to strip down to her underpants and ‘held against her will’ by teachers looking for a vaporizer.

The family filed a lawsuit against the Willoughby Eastlake Schools Board of Education and three East Lake Middle School staff members in the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on December 28 regarding the incident. of September 7.

According to the lawsuit, the eighth grader allowed a friend to put a vaporizer in her locker. Later that day, the school principal questioned her in her office and then ordered an untrained auxiliary nurse to conduct a body search.

Jarod Klebanow, managing member of Klebanow Law LLC, which represents the family, told DailyMail.com that “the search was unreasonable.”

“Students don’t check their constitutional rights at the door when they enter the school,” the lawyer said. Subjecting a teen to a strip search for an item that did not pose a threat of violence to students or staff was unreasonable and violated her civil rights.

Klebanow said that “the main priority is to ensure that this does not happen to any other child in the future.” The student’s damages are still being assessed.

The complaint states that the school violated the students’ constitutional rights, namely the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

“Students and parents need to be able to trust that public school districts and the adults who work within those districts will do everything they can to protect the rights of our students, not violate those rights,” Klebanow said.

‘In this case, the district and every single adult involved in this case failed. People say that time heals all wounds, but it is important to remember that there is almost always a scar.

East Lake High School Principal Colleen Blaurock, Nurse Megan Kuhlman and Nurse Assistant Rosalyn Rubertino were the three school officials named in the complaint obtained by DailyMail.com.

The lawsuit alleges that on September 7, 2022, the eighth-grader, who has two lockers, arrived at school around 8 a.m. and went directly to her gym locker to store her belongings.

One of her lockers was for her volleyball team and was located in the girls’ locker room. The other assigned locker was in the hallway of the school.

While the student was in the girls’ locker room, another student, whose name was not released, approached her to “see and smoke her new vaporizer,” the lawsuit says.

The eighth grader refused, but the other girl asked if she could leave a shirt and the steamer in her gym locker.

The lawsuit claims that the student “felt uncomfortable but fearful of upsetting her friend, she reluctantly agreed” before heading to class.

Just before lunch the same day, the principal, Colleen Blaurock, pulled the eighth grader out of class and questioned her about the existence of the vaporizer.

The lawsuit states that the student “was honest with Blaurock and told him the truth about what happened in the girls’ locker room that morning.”

Colleen Blaurock (pictured) is the principal of East Lake High School and one of the defendants in the case.

The principal then asked the student where the vaporizer was. The student told the principal that “the vaporizer was not hers, she did not have the vaporizer, and she did not know where the vaporizer was,” according to the complaint.

The principal then directed the student to accompany him to the girls’ locker room where he searched her gym locker.

The lawsuit alleges that although there was a school resource officer located at the school, the principal did not inform the officer or request his assistance in the search.

During the search of the lockers, the principal did not find any inappropriate or illegal material. He then went to the second located locker and found a sweater, but nothing else.

“All of Blaurock’s searches came up empty, as the student had been honest about what had happened throughout the day,” the lawsuit states.

“The principal later admitted that the student was an honest girl who had a history of being straight with her, he would not give up the search,” according to the complaint.

After the locker searches, the principal took the student to the nurse’s office.

A photo of East Lake High School located in the suburb of Eastlake, Ohio

Eastlake Middle School nurse Megan Kuhlman was not present on the September 7, 2022 day of the incident and was reportedly in a different building.

Nursing assistant, Rosalyn Rubertino, was there where she is regularly stationed. According to the lawsuit, Kuhlman is believed to be a registered nurse, but Rubertino is not a licensed registered nurse.

When the principal arrived at the nurse’s office, she instructed Rubertino to find the student’s vaporizer even though he was already going through his lockers.

“Blaurock knew there was no reason to strip search the student, as there was no imminent risk of harm to any student,” the lawsuit states.

In addition, Blaurock also “knew or should have known that there were less invasive means of searching for the vaporizer, if a more thorough search was necessary at all.”

Rubertino informed the director that she would need to call Kuhlman to ask about the search. After her called Kulhman, told to conduct a body search.

Kulhman did not explain to Rubertino what a body search meant or how to perform one on a student, the suit.

Rubertino then asked the student to remove all of her clothing except her underwear, the complaint states.

“Rubertino was never, and has never been, trained by anyone in the Willoughby-Eastlake School District on how to conduct student searches,” the lawsuit states.

“No policy or procedure existed in the Willoughby-Eastlake School District regarding the conduct of strip and body searches of students,” the lawsuit states.

While the strip search was taking place, the principal stood outside the door and “was aware of what was occurring inside the nurse’s office,” the lawsuit says.

The student asked Rubertino why he had to take off his clothes. The student was not given the option of leaving or rejecting the search, the complaint said, and Rubertino ignored the student’s question.

“Feeling helpless, the student stripped down to her underpants,” according to the lawsuit. ‘Rubertino then looked at the student from numerous angles. Rubertino found nothing.

“The student then asked Rubertino if she could put her bra back on,” the court documents reveal.

Rubertino told the student to wait while she was still naked and without a bra, while he left the room to speak with the principal, the complaint says.

The nursing assistant returned and then proceeded to check the student’s eyes with an ultraviolet light before telling her she could get dressed.

According to court documents, “Kulhman later admitted that he would never have stripped the student in light of the circumstances presented.”

“She said her previous procedure for conducting a search was to ask the student to hold their clothing tight against their skin and if an object becomes visible under the student’s clothing, ask the student to remove it and hand it over to her.” says the lawsuit. claim (ie.

Jarod Klebanow, managing member of Klebanow Law LLC, (pictured) representing the family, told DailyMail.com that “the search was unreasonable”. He filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family against the Willoughby Eastlake Schools Board of Education and three East Lake Middle School staff members, which was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. December the 28th.

Court documents reveal that “Kulhman did not instruct Rubertino on how he had handled searches in the past, and instead told him to simply conduct a ‘body search.’

“It is Kulhman’s responsibility and duty to protect the rights of students and, as the school nurse, to ensure that proper search procedures are followed to protect the rights of students,” the lawsuit states.

“It is Blaurock’s responsibility and duty to protect the rights of students and, as the principal of the school, to ensure that proper search procedures are followed to protect the rights of students.”

Court documents state that “instead of requiring Kulhman to drive the short distance to the high school to conduct the search herself, Blaurick turned that task over to an unlicensed and untrained assistant, who was tasked with stripping a student It posed no risk.” to school.

Kulhman fully acknowledged that a strip search of the student was inappropriate, according to the lawsuit.

The Willoughby-Eastlake School District superintendent later admitted that he would need to train employees in the proper procedure for searching students, acknowledging that strip searches should not have occurred.

After the strip search, the student was suspended from school.

The student’s rights were violated when Kuhlman admitted less invasive search tactics were routinely used within the Willoughby Eastlake School District, according to the complaint.

In addition, court documents claim that the rights of the students were violated when an unlicensed and untrained assistant was tasked with conducting their strip search.

“Defendants’ acts and conduct have been a wanton and reckless disregard for the rights and feelings of the student,” the complaint reads.

The lawyer said the student returned to school after the two-day suspension, but said he was “unsure about the status of the three school officials.”

‘The next step will be rReceive a receptive plea from the defendants,’ Klebanow told DailyMail.com.

The lawyer said the girl’s mother, Kristen Yeckley, was not available when DailyMail.com tried to reach her.

Asked how the student has been doing since the unsettling experience, Klebanow told DailyMail.com. ‘As you can imagine, she’s still struggling with what happened. She has a strong support system at home that will hopefully help her continue to heal,” she said.