Settlement Reached In Fairfield School Bus Abuse Case: Report

FAIRFIELD, CT —A financial settlement has been reached between Fairfield Public Schools and Connecticut Transportation Solutions, and the family of a student with autism, in a case involving a former bus monitor who was accused of assaulting the teenager in 2018, the Connecticut Post reported.

Bridgeport resident Joseph Jean-Felix received a suspended sentence in 2020, after pleading guilty to risk of injury to a child, unlawful restraint and assault. Jean-Felix was accused of assaulting the student on multiple occasions, but reportedly claimed the school bus company did not properly train him in how to handle disabled students.

Bus surveillance footage showed multiple incidents of abuse by Jean-Felix.

"After further investigation and review of surveillance footage pertaining to the bus transportation of the juvenile to his school, it was determined that injuries located on the juvenile were consistent with actions taken by the transportation aide over a period of time," wrote then-Capt. Robert Kalamaras, now Fairfield's Police Chief, in a statement in 2019.

Attorneys for the family had reportedly sought a settlement of $3 million in the case, but whether that amount was the final outcome is not known, as the settlement terms were not disclosed. The settlement was reached prior to the case going to trial.

Read the Connecticut Post story.