4th Circuit allows parent to proceed on unreasonable restraint claim

H.H. ex rel. H.F. v. Moffett, 2009 WL 1931203 (4th Cir. 2009): Parent alleged that school district personnel “maliciously kept [her child] restrained in her wheelchair for hours at a time during the school day, while they ignored her, verbally abused her, and schemed to deprive her of educational services.” This case is in the preliminary stages. The Circuit Court found that the evidence demonstrated that the alleged conduct violated the child's clearly established right to freedom from undue restraint under the Fourteenth Amendment, and that therefore, the teacher was not entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law.