Puyallup girl has autism. School staff repeatedly tied her to chair, suit says

A 6-year-old special education student in Puyallup was repeatedly tied by her apron to a chair during lunch, leading to her teacher’s suspension, a legal complaint says.

The girl has autism and can act out, including biting, if frustrated or emotionally dysregulated. She was allegedly restrained for extended periods by school staff while attending Meeker Elementary School during the first half of the 2025-26 school year, according to a lawsuit brought by the girl’s parents against the Puyallup School District.

The complaint, filed on March 16 in Pierce County Superior Court, suggested the practice went on for at least two weeks and potentially for months. The restraint, according to the filing, violated the Washington Law Against Discrimination based on the girl’s disabilities, which include being essentially non-verbal. The district also is accused of negligence, battery and false imprisonment.

“(She) is and was one of the most vulnerable types of students that the District was legally obligated to serve at Meeker Elementary School,” the suit said.

In a statement Tuesday, district spokesperson Sarah Gillispie said that the district took immediate action upon learning of the allegations. It removed named staff members from the classroom and conducted a third-party investigation, she said.

“We do not condone the conduct described in the complaint and have taken corrective action to address the concerns,” Gillispie said, without specifying the corrective action. “As this matter proceeds through the litigation process, the District will remain committed to providing a safe and positive educational experience for all students.”

According to the lawsuit, the girl’s parents noted a bruise on their daughter’s back in September, which her classroom teacher suggested could have been a marker.

“…(T)hey now understand that the large, horizontal bruise they saw on their daughter’s back would have matched the backing of the chair to which (she) was tied and restrained by school staff for extended periods of time on several occasions,” the suit said.

In handwritten notes, a classroom aide detailed discovering the girl tied to a chair in November, according to the suit. The para-educator said they returned from a lunch break, tried to have the girl stand up and realized she was stuck.

“I then saw that her apron was tied TO THE BACK OF HER SEAT! I commented, “She’s tied to her chair??!!” No response,” the aide wrote, according to the complaint. “Also it had been an hour since they started lunch – NO WAY SOMEONE DIDN’T SEE THAT!!”

The aide reported what she saw to Meeker Elementary principal David Couch, who notified the girl’s parents and described the practice as “egregious,” the suit said. Only a day prior, Couch had raised issues to the district about the classroom teacher’s performance and her students’ safety, according to the suit.

A district investigation found that the teacher was fully aware of and encouraged the restraint, lied about her knowledge of it, and failed to advocate for student safety, the complaint said.

The teacher was placed on administrative leave in November, according to the filing. She remained on leave Tuesday, pending her personnel due process, according to Gillispie.

Three para-educators, including the one who reported it, told a district investigator that they were aware that the girl was being restrained in the chair. One aide initiated the practice with the teacher’s approval, according to the suit. The two other aides either said they were concerned about the restraint or internally questioned it.

The girl’s parents said they noticed behavioral changes and regression in their daughter while she attended Meeker Elementary, including withdrawal and biting. Her district-established care plan from the prior school year, at a different school, noted that she was prone to overstimulation and lacked impulse control, requiring frequent breaks and movement, according to the suit.

“As the Meeker Elementary staff specifically engaged in and/or witnessed the unlawful misconduct when it occurred, they were direct participants in and/or witnesses to not only the misconduct, but also to the harmful psychological and other damaging impacts it had on (the girl) when such misconduct occurred,” the complaint said.

She left Meeker Elementary in exchange for a new placement in agreement with the district, according to the filing.

The lawsuit is the second one lodged against the school district so far this year related to special education. In January, parents of a 14-year-old boy with autism alleged their son was abused by at least three teachers’ aides at Fruitland Elementary School between 2023 and 2025, including being sprayed with a water bottle and blocked from leaving an isolation room.

Attorney Michael Smith represents the families in both cases alleging abuse.

“One has to wonder at the repeated occurrences that we see for our child clients, and the vetting, oversight and supervision that the district’s conducting” related to its special education staff and general education teachers who supervise that staff, Smith said in an interview Tuesday.

In December, the district agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit that alleged a second-grade teacher abused an 8-year-old student with autism at Pope Elementary, including by locking him out of the classroom, jerking him around by his arm and repeatedly yelling at him during the 2022-23 school year.

The settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing by the district, The News Tribune previously reported.

The most recently filed suit seeks unspecified damages to be proven at trial and legal fees, among other relief.