Proposed class-action lawsuit filed over alleged use of holds, seclusion at a Whitehorse school

A new proposed class-action lawsuit alleges a number of students at Whitehorse's Jack Hulland Elementary School were repeatedly subject to holds and seclusion — sometimes for hours on end.

The incidents are alleged to have happened between 2002 and last school year, and to have been to the point where some students developed post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Two representative plaintiffs, still children, and their guardians are suing both the Yukon Department of Education and Jack Hulland Elementary School Council.

A statement of claim filed to the Yukon Supreme Court on Monday morning alleges both children, who are only identified by their initials, were "subjected to holds and involuntary seclusion on a frequent and repeated basis" by school staff beginning in 2015.

However, the document also alleges a series of policies at Jack Hulland allowed the widespread use of holds and seclusion on students, including equipping a staff team with hand-held radios so they could be called for help and the construction of four "isolation cells" in a classroom. 

"I have never seen anything like this in my life," lawyer James Tucker, who's representing the plaintiffs, said in an interview. "And I'm from another generation where what might be considered corporal punishment was occasionally employed." 

The lawsuit is seeking to be certified as a class-action on behalf of all students "who were subject to holds and restraints and who were locked in a room and/or placed in seclusion" at the school between Jan. 1, 2002, and June 30, 2022. 

No statements of defence have been filed yet and the allegations have yet to be tested at trial.

A spokesperson for the Yukon's Justice Department, which handles the government's legal affairs, declined the CBC's request for comment.

Holds, seclusion allegedly used on 'emotionally heightened,' upset students

According to the statement of claim, staff at Jack Hulland including administration, teachers and educational assistants used holds to "confine, transport or restrict the movement" of students from around September 2002 to October 2021. 

While the Department of Education and Jack Hulland School Council were responsible for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of students at the school, the lawsuit alleges they knew about the use of holds and seclusion from the beginning but didn't stop it. 

According to the statement of claim, the council "adopted and implemented policies which authorized and/or, in particular circumstances, directed the use of holds, restraints and seclusion on students as a means of controlling and modifying student behaviour." 

Those "forcible confinement policies," the lawsuit claims, were approved by the department and used to enforce the "Hawk Rules" at Jack Hulland, a series of directives meant to apply to both adults and children. 

The rules, contained in a parent handbook, are listed under the heading, "behaviour management and building self discipline" and include "have respect for yourself and others" and "will follow instructions (the 1st time)."

The lawsuit alleges staff used holds "when there was no justification or reason to do so," including on "emotionally heightened, dysregulated, and/or upset" students who weren't at risk of harming themselves or others, and when students "were disobedient and/or did not follow instructions from the staff the first time instructions were given."

Staff members were "routinely assigned" to be part of a two-to-three-person team and given handheld radios used to call on them to help place students in holds, the lawsuit says. Some students were allegedly put in holds "on a continuous basis for hours" to the point where staff would take turns holding a student as their colleagues "became exhausted," and a "hold" could include staff sitting on a student's torso or applying pressure on a student's arm and shoulder joints, creating a "dangerous and injurious" situation.

As well, staff, on occasion, would allegedly place students in holds to drag them "against their will to a place where they would be placed in seclusion." 

Students would allegedly be locked alone in various rooms at Jack Hulland, or in a place referred to as the "study hall" and later as "the Nest." 

Students locked in 3'x3' isolation cells, lawsuit claims

The Nest, according to the statement of claim, was a small classroom home to four "isolation cells" constructed in around 2008. 

The cells were approximately three feet by three feet and had doors with glass windows in them. The doors could be locked from the outside, the lawsuit says,  and there was a video camera in the room connected to a monitor in the school's main office so staff could monitor students locked in the cells remotely.

Students placed in seclusion in the Nest or elsewhere would "remain locked up for varying lengths of time," the statement of claim alleges, including for "several hours" and sometimes through lunch and recess periods — sometimes daily.

All throughout, staff didn't inform the parents of students being placed in holds and seclusion about the extent of what was happening, the lawsuit claims. When staff did speak to parents, they allegedly "deceived" them and said the holds or seclusion were necessary to regulate or de-escalate their child. The lawsuit also alleges it was suggested to parents that "there were factors from home contributing to the school behaviour … and/or that they were bad parents." 

The lawsuit alleges the use of holds and seclusion on students amounted to battery, assault, false imprisonment and corporal punishment, and that the representative plaintiffs suffered emotional distress, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.

The lawsuit is seeking compensation for all impacted students, including aggravated and punitive damages, both for the two representative plaintiffs and, if approved as a class action, all class members.