KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a then 19-year-old boy with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) over allegations of bullying at a special education school seven years ago.
In her decision on Friday (Feb 3), Justice Nik Hasmat Nik Mohamad said that after considering the entirety of the evidence, the court found there was nothing to prove bullying took place as claimed by the plaintiff.
In his suit, filed on May 26, 2017, the plaintiff said he was placed in a classroom of a government vocational school for special children without the school first checking his learning disabilities.
He claimed that he was bullied several times by other students when he was at the school hostel, including being spit at while he was praying, tied to his bed, punched and kicked, and having his belongings stolen.
The plaintiff, now 25, claimed that no action was taken by the school and its principal, despite numerous complaints lodged.
He filed the lawsuit through his adoptive mother and named the special education secondary school, the government, the school principal and the Education Ministry as the defendants.
Justice Nik Hasmat however found that there were no direct witnesses to the incidents as claimed by the plaintiff.
"There was no evidence of fighting, even from a police investigation.
"The incidents of bullying have not been proven," she said.
The court also found that the plaintiff was unsuccessful in proving that there was a breach of law pertaining to alleged negligence on the part of the defendants.
Justice Nik Hasmat also remarked that if the plaintiff's adoptive mother had been unhappy with his situation at the school, the next option was to withdraw him from there.
"But the son remained there. The claims are unsubstantiated.
"On the whole, in the entirety of the evidence, I have to dismiss the plaintiff's entire claim," she said.
The court also ordered the plaintiff to pay RM10,000 in costs.
Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo represented the teenager and his mother while Federal Counsel Safiyyah Omar represented the defendants.
In the statement of claim, the teenager, who was diagnosed with ADHD when he was four years old and also has leg problems that make it difficult for him to sit on the floor, claimed that he was registered at the special education secondary school on Jan 18, 2016 and was placed at the school hostel.
Prior to that, he was a student at a normal secondary school and his education level was only at kindergarten level.
He claimed that he was placed in a classroom without the school first checking what his learning disabilities were and that the school did not have the facilities or system to categorise students based on their condition.
The plaintiff sought, among others, a declaration that the failure to provide a system to categorise special needs students according to their learning disabilities is a breach of Article 12 of the Federal Constitution and Section 28 of the Persons With Disabilities Act.
In its defence, the school stated that the placement of the student was made based on the choice made by the boy and his adoptive mother during registration.
