Special Ed Teacher Forced Students to Masturbate in Class, Lawsuit Says

The students range in age from 14 to 18 and are all severely autistic, according to Gerard Misk, the attorney representing their families; some have Downs syndrome as well. None of them are able to speak.

"It's very difficult to estimate how this has affected them at the moment," Misk tells Broadly.

The teacher at the center of this case is Lisa Weitzman, a special education teacher with the Long Beach Public Schools. The charges—eight in all—are each more horrific than the last, among them "that teacher Weitzman dug the heels of her stiletto shoes into the feet of a student in an effort to make him be quiet… slammed a student against a wall… performed a 'lap dance' upon a student… [and] duct taped gloves on the hands of a student so that he would stop playing with his feces."

According to the documents, she also used the bathroom as a timeout room and fed the children "prohibited food items so as to cause gastrointestinal symptoms in an effort to cause them to miss school."

It took years for the allegations to surface as "the children could not inform their parents or anyone else of what was taking place," according to court papers.

The allegations against Weitzman date back as far as 2011. Court documents outline that at least eleven teacher's assistants had filed complaints with the school district over the past seven years. None the complaints were investigated, and "all eleven of these complaining persons were transferred out of the class, and there is no record of any punitive action being taken against teacher Weitzman," per the petition.

"I am at a loss to explain why it took so long for the district to listen to these aides," says Misk. "Seems to me they [the school district] were doing everything they could to cover this up."

The school suspended Weitzman in the fall of 2014, but the allegations didn't surface until recently. Several parents of students who were in the same class have still not been notified.

"A retiring president of the teacher's union blew the whistle in a letter to the school board president. He complained that the school was doing nothing about the complaints they had received. It came to me through one of the concerned parents," says Misk.

Weitzman's attorney, Debra Wabnik, told Broadly that Weitzman "was a dedicated teacher who was loved by her students and their parents. She vehemently denies doing any harm to her students." She adds that Weitzman "fought to get [the students] services and rights which the [school] district failed to provide."

Wabnik maintains that the allegations against Weitzman are retaliation for the teacher advocating for her students.

"I believe if the parents of these students had the correct information and were permitted to speak to Ms. Weitzman, their claims would be focused on the District's failing to provide proper services and being out of compliance with state regulations, rather than the claims they are asserting," says Wabnik.

"I agree that the district did not give her the support she needed," says Misk. "However, it does not in any way excuse the abuse she subjected these children to."

As for the parents, Misk says, "They are all feeling extremely betrayed. Not just by the teacher whom they all thought very highly of, but also by the school district that allowed this to go on for years."

The next hearing is scheduled for April 29, where a court will decide if the parents can file a late claim. If it's granted, Misk will take further steps towards a lawsuit against the school district.

The school district did not respond to Broadly's request for comment.