Australian woman with Down syndrome sues Catholic schools with charges of 14 years of bullying

From Adelaide Now in Australia:

A Down Syndrome student who was allegedly subjected to "violence and bullying" over 14 years during her education is suing her former school.

The former student, now 27, has lodged Supreme Court action against Catholic Special Schools Incorporated which runs St Ann's Special School at Marion.

In her statement of claim, the woman says she was repeatedly assaulted by another student and on one occasion he fractured her leg in two places by pushing her off play equipment.

The documents claim the school failed to take any "adequate steps" to prevent the bullying at the school between 1988 and 2002.



She also claims she was advised by staff to "simply push" the bully away. She says this was an "inadequate and inappropriate response to the risk" he presented to her.

The woman claims she now walks with a limp, has difficulty with physical exercise and suffers from depression, nightmares and anxiety attacks.

In the documents, the woman says she was "misled and deceived into believing the school had the appropriate services to provide a safe environment".

The former student claims the school did not have a sufficient policy to prevent school violence and it "knew or ought to have known the likelihood of him perpetrating violence against her".

The woman is seeking unspecified costs. However, lawsuits filed with the Supreme Court only deal with sums of more than $40,000.

Catholic Schools Association spokeswoman Jenny Brinkworth yesterday said that it would be inappropriate for them to comment on a matter before the courts.

The school is yet to file its defence.