Minooka Bus Driver Smacked Disabled Elim Student: Lawsuit

MINOOKA, IL - The Minooka school district and Tracy Roth, a bus driver employed by Minooka, are both being sued in Will County Circuit Court on allegations of willful and wanton intentional conduct involving battery. The civil suit was filed last week by Chicago attorney Alex Memmen on behalf of his clients Tiffany Rich and her child, Tayawiyyaha Morocco. Their lawsuit at the Will County Courthouse seeks unspecified monetary damages from Minooka schools and the 48-year-old bus driver who lives in Channahon.

John Troy, Minooka's assistant superintendent of business and general counsel, declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday morning. Court records show Roth was charged last December with misdemeanor battery and the Shorewood Police Department investigated the incident. Roth, who lives in the 24900 block of South Elsie Avenue, has hired Joliet attorney Scott Delaney to represent her in the criminal case. That case is tentatively set for a jury trial starting Friday in Will County Courtroom 314. Delaney declined to comment when reached Tuesday afternoon.

According to the civil lawsuit, the Minooka School District owned and operated a fleet of buses to drive children back and forth from the Elim Christian School in Palos Heights, which is roughly 40 miles away from Minooka. On October 26, 2016, Tayawiyyaha was on one of the Minooka buses, riding from her home to Elim Christian School, and Roth was driving the bus, the lawsuit notes. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories near Channahon and Minooka, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"While a passenger on said bus, Tracy Roth did intentionally or willfully and wantonly strike Plaintiff across the face," Memmen Law Firm stated in its lawsuit. "At the time of the aforementioned battery, said bus was located in Shorewood ... Tracy Roth was an employee of Minooka School District and was acting in the course and scope of her employment as a school bus driver."

The lawsuit states that Tayawiyyaha "suffered injuries of a personal and pecuniary nature" as a result of the encounter with the Minooka bus driver.

During an interview with Patch, Attorney Memmen explained, "this is not a case involving huge medical bills, but it is a case with significant psychological injury or damage."

Memmen said his client was 16 years old at the time, and she is a special education student. "She's disabled," Memmen said. The bus driver, he argued, "just lost her control for whatever reason. She was certainly working within the course and scope of her employment."

The plaintiff's lawyer said his client's parents were not notified until a week after the incident.

Memmen told Patch he wasn't sure whether the Minooka school district disciplined Roth, but that's an issue he plans to pursue as his civil lawsuit unfolds at the Will County Courthouse in the coming months.

"We expect the school to be held accountable for this incident," he added.

School bus image via Pixabay