The father of a former special education student in the Valley View School District filed a lawsuit against a former district employee who pleaded guilty to filming the student while he was using the bathroom and sharing the video on social media.
Attorneys Luke and Robert Moran filed the civil lawsuit last week in Lackawanna County Court on behalf of Blakely resident Carl Miller, the father of Nathaniel Miller, against Carbondale resident Cala Tolerico, a former classroom aide in the district. It also names the district, Bayada Home Health Care Inc. and Alan Sardo of Scranton, a Bayada employee.
Nathaniel Miller, who has severe intellectual and developmental disabilities, was required to have one-on-one supervision and assistance by a nurse or home health aide throughout the week, including while he was at school, according to the complaint filed by the Morans.
In February 2023, Sardo left Nathaniel Miller unsupervised and alone when he went to use the restroom. Tolerico, then a teacher’s aide in the life skills classroom at Valley View High School, entered the bathroom and recorded on her cellphone a video of Nathaniel Miller on the toilet with his pants down and his bare legs exposed, according to the complaint. She then shared the video publicly to her Snapchat story.
Tolerico, who is no longer employed by the district, also sent the video directly to other adults, including Valley View employees, who reported the video to school officials.
She pleaded guilty in late 2023 to a misdemeanor count of harassment. Lackawanna County Judge Andy Jarbola sentenced her to a year in prison and a year of probation, both of which Tolerico served, according to court documents.
Tolerico said in a statement to school officials she intended “no harm” and took the video “as a joke.” The statement was forwarded to Archbald police Sgt. Michael Fenton, the school resource officer in the high school and middle school.
However, the attorneys said in the complaint the purpose of Tolerico’s conduct was to draw attention to and embarrass Nathaniel Miller because he is disabled and she would not have recorded and distributed the video if he didn’t have disabilities. And Sardo directly enabled and facilitated Tolerico’s conduct by abandoning Nathaniel Miller, they said.
The attorneys said Tolerico and Sardo’s actions led to negligence, emotional distress and invasion of privacy for Nathaniel Miller, who suffered severe emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, exacerbation of his disabilities and psychological trauma from the incident. He is no longer enrolled in the district, Robert Moran said.
Bayada failed to hire competent employees, and to properly train, supervise and monitor Sardo and ensure he complied with Nathaniel Miller’s supervision requirements, they said.
In addition, the district failed to provide Nathaniel Miller with appropriate accommodations, supports, supervision and protection to give him equal access to educational programs and services, didn’t provide him a safe and appropriate educational environment, and didn’t protect him from humiliation, abuse or exploitation, thereby exposing him to the “improper, cruel, abusive, humiliating, and degrading” treatment he suffered when Tolerico filmed him, the attorneys said in the complaint. They also said the district failed to properly train and supervise employees assigned to Nathaniel Miller.
“This innocent and vulnerable young man suffered irreparable harm at the hands of people he and his family trusted the most,” Robert Moran said in an emailed statement. “The people and institutions responsible for this heinous and demeaning conduct must be held accountable.”
Efforts to reach Valley View Superintendent Brian Durkin for comment on the lawsuit were unsuccessful.
Carl Miller, who is seeking a jury trial, is seeking more than $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages and other relief from each of the defendants.