NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Attorneys with Firouzbakht Law Firm have filed a lawsuit against a North Texas behavioral center after viewing a video that shows a therapist throwing a non-verbal autistic boy against a wall.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” said trial lawyer Wesley Gould. “This child doesn’t have the ability to vocalize what was happening to him at that place. Someone has to speak for him and that’s what we’re determined to do.”
The defendant is North Richland Hills-based ABA Interactive, a behavioral health facility that, according to its website, focuses on applied behavior analysis (ABA) for adults and children with special needs.
The lawsuit describes disturbing details in which the parents of a 7-year-old non-verbal autistic boy noticed a large scratch and several bruises on his face after picking up the child from ABA Interactive in June 2024.
According to the filing, ABA staff members gave parents different versions of events that led to the injuries. The parents say they initially were told the boy scratched himself during a behavioral episode. When they asked ABA management if they could see surveillance video of the classroom, the school denied permission to do so.
The parents say ABA Interactive’s founder, Kiara Henry, later met with them to describe what she saw in the video and said the child was subjected to gentle restraint on the day of the alleged abuse after a tantrum.
Eventually, the parents were able to view a classroom video of the incident after being provided a copy by another therapist, according to the lawsuit. In the video, the child can be seen patting a behavior therapist’s lap in order to get her attention. Then another employee lifted the child from his collar and slammed him against a wall with her hands around his neck, stepping on another autistic child in the process.
The North Richland Hills police department is investigating.
“We’re going to investigate to see whether there may be other instances of abuse against autistic children at ABA Interactive that have been unreported to authorities,” said firm founder Eric Firouzbakht.
The case is Ramila Chalise et al. vs. ABA Interactive LLC. Cause no. 141-355277-24 in Tarrant County.
About Firouzbakht Law Firm
Firouzbakht Law Firm is an award-winning legal team dedicated to securing justice on behalf of clients. With offices in Houston, Dallas, Atlanta and Denver, Firouzbakht Law has helped those who have been hurt or wronged by the negligence of others, specializing in car accidents, workplace injuries, apartment complex violence and wrongful death cases. For more information, visit https://firouzbakhtlawfirm.com/