HARRISBURG - A former teacher at a Harrisburg day care says it mistreated her and her 5-year-old son, who was told when hungry he could eat food that was in the trash can.
Crystal Crawford, a former employee of Best Friends Daycare, LLC, filed a lawsuit Jan. 9 against the daycare and its supervisors Lori Berrun, Timothy Norris, and Kristin Lloyd. The case was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Crawford alleges that she was unjustly terminated due to her medical condition - Lupus. She claims that despite informing her supervisors about her health issues and frequent hospitalizations, they failed to provide reasonable workplace accommodations. Instead, they chose to terminate her employment after she returned from her last hospitalization.
The lawsuit is based on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 2008 (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life.
Crawford also alleges her son was mistreated at the daycare.
"(O)n... July 15, 2022, Plaintiff reported child abuse at the daycare when a teacher told Plaintiff's autistic son that if he was hungry, he could eat the lunch he threw away in the trash can," the suit says.
Crawford is represented by Jeremy Donham of Donham Law in Morgantown, W.Va., and Charles Hobbs of The Hobbs Law Firm of York.