On Feb. 6, 2018, the plaintiff, an 8-year-old special education student with Autism Spectrum Disorder (a complex neurological and developmental disorder that affects how a person acts, communicates, learns, and interacts with others), was being transported to school on a bus provided by the Vacaville Unified School District and driven by Kim Klopson. Soon after the student boarded the bus, she was scolded by Klopson for kicking the seat in front of her even though no one was seated there. When the student turned around to look toward the back of the bus, Klopson again scolded her and then threatened to make her sit at the back of the bus on the way home from school if she did not behave. As a result, the student became visibly upset. When the bus arrived at school, the student occasionally stood up at her seat. As a result, Klopson continued to angrily scold the student and again threatened to change the student’s seat on the bus. Klopson also grabbed the student’s backpack away and placed it on a seat at the front of the bus. As a result, the student became visibly distressed and agitated. When the student’s paraeducator arrived to pick her up and take her to class, Klopson instructed the student to pick up her backpack at the front of the bus, but the student remained in her seat, made non-verbal sounds and cried in distress. Klopson then threatened to send the student to the principal’s office for her behavior. When the student’s paraeducator offered to help get the student off the bus, Klopson refused. The situation escalated and, ultimately, Klopson lifted the student up from her seat and dropped her onto the aisle floor. She then pulled the student up by her jacket and dropped her a second time. Klopson also dragged the student down the bus aisle by her clothing, allowing the student’s sweater to come off in the process, and threw the student onto the bus seat. Klopson then closed the door to the bus while the two were still inside and Klopson held the student down at the bus stairs. Klopson taunted the student for nearly six minutes before releasing the student, who was highly distressed and crying, from the bus. Later that morning, the student’s paraeducator reported the incident to the school’s principle, who launched an investigation. Ultimately, the Vacaville Unified School District reported the incident to the Vacaville Police Department, and Klopson was charged with felony child abuse. The 8-year-old student’s father, acting as his daughter’s guardian ad litem, sued Klopson; the Vacaville Unified School District; and the district superintendent, Jane Shamieh. The student’s father alleged that Klopson’s actions constituted assault and that all of the defendants’ actions or inaction constituted negligent supervision and violations of the student’s civil rights. Shamieh was ultimately dismissed by the court on a motion to dismiss. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that the student was kicking the bus seat because repetitive movements, like the kicking, are a common manifestation of the student’s autism. Counsel also contended that scolding a child with autism the way Klopson did and threatening to move the autistic child’s seat is a disruption of the child’s daily routine and was likely to cause an autistic child emotional distress and that Klopson’s actions did, in fact, cause the student to become visibly upset. Counsel further contended that Klopson’s continued anger and threats, combined with the act of grabbing the backpack away from the student and placing it on a seat at the front of the bus, caused the student to become more visibly distressed and agitated. Plaintiff’s counsel asserted that the student then remained in her seat after Klopson instructed her to pick up her backpack because the instruction was in direct conflict with the student’s daily routine and what the student had been instructed to do by her parents and teachers. Counsel also asserted that the conflicting instructions caused the autistic student to make non-verbal sounds and cry in distress, but that instead of de-escalating the situation, Klopson continued to threaten the student, escalating the situation, and ultimately taunted and assaulted the student. In addition, plaintiff’s counsel asserted that neither the student’s paraeducator nor any of the school district’s other faculty, staff and/or administrators took any action while the assaults on the bus occurred., During the school day after the incident on the bus, the 8-year-old autist student began complaining of back pain. Upon examination, the school nurse discovered that the student had several abrasions and welts on her lower back. However, the student was kept at school for the remainder of the day and then sent home on the bus. Her parents were not informed about the incident until the student was sent home. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that the student continues to suffer from emotional distress as a result of the incident. The student’s father sought recovery of damages for his daughter’s past and future emotional pain and suffering.