Hocking College is facing a lawsuit from a former student with Down syndrome who is alleging disability discrimination, retaliation, and assault, ABC News reported.
Caden Cox, the first person with Down syndrome to play and score a point in a college football game, is suing Hocking, alleging that when he worked at the student recreation center, his supervisor engaged in “persistent derogatory, discriminatory, and abusive verbal harassment.”
And in May 2022, the supervisor threatened Cox with a knife in the student center bathroom. He resigned and was later convicted in municipal court on menacing charges stemming from the incident, according to the lawsuit.
The suit alleges that other student-workers also complained about harassment from said supervisor.
Cox and his parents filed a written December 2022 complaint with Hocking President Dr. Betty Young, claiming the school failed to conduct a background check on the supervisor before hiring and protect Cox despite complaints. Young retaliated by removing him as the recipient of graduation awards he had been chosen to receive, according to the suit.
Cox is calling for compensatory and punitive damages and changes to the community college’s anti-harassment policies.
