The child was told he couldn’t attend a summer camp for “typically developing children,” including the Adventure Camp or Atrium Branch Camp.
Instead the YMCA insisted the child attend Camp Campbell Gard for children with disabilities.
Attorney Curtis L. Cornett of Cors & Bassett, LLC in Cincinnati said in an emailed statement Tuesday that his client was “surprised and disappointed” to learn of the filing.
“Ms. Watts just last week enrolled Steven in summer camp at Camp Campbell Gard, and the YMCA understood that Ms. Watts had agreed that Camp Campbell Gard was the only safe summer camp alternative for Steven,” Cornett wrote.
Watts said her son in the past has “actively resisted” programs restricted to just special needs students.
According to the court filing, Watts would prefer her son “stay with the peers that he has grown up with through your programs at the Y. He has proven success in the after care program with reasonable accommodations.”
Watts said in the suit her son has previously attended summer programs at the Atrium YMCA, as well as before and after school programs hosted by the Y at Steven’s school, Miller Ridge Elementary in Middletown.
In August 2014, the child was terminated from his before school program and restricted to only 15-30 minutes in the after school program.
The lawsuit cites violations by the YMCA under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Ohio Revised Code.
Watts and her son are seeking punitive damages for the “YMCA’s intentional injurious conduct;” compensatory damages for the deprivation of civil rights; and injunctive relief that requires the YMCA to provide reasonable accommodations.
“It’s a disrespect to all those before me that fought for my son to have what he has and it’s an injustice to those who have yet to walk this path. I told the YMCA that I don’t ever want to see another parent have to go through what I’ve been through,” Watts said in the lawsuit.
Cornett’s emailed statement continued:
“The YMCA has no intention of litigating this case in the media and will therefore not be responding line by line to the allegations in plaintiffs’ Complaint in this forum. Suffice it to say at this point that all of the actions taken by the YMCA toward Steven were taken with the safety and well-being of him and others as the primary consideration, that the YMCA has at all times acted lawfully and compassionately in its care of Steven, and that the YMCA has provided numerous accommodations to Steven (and will continue to do so regardless of the filing of yesterday’s lawsuit). The YMCA will vigorously defend itself in this matter.”
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