Former college student accused of vandalizing campus security vehicles with swastikas sues college for negligence
Costa Mesa Ca March 14 2018
A former Orange Coast College student who is facing a felony vandalism charge for allegedly defacing campus security vehicles with swastikas has filed a lawsuit claiming the college failed to adequately address his mental disability.
In his lawsuit filed this month, 22-year-old Robert McDougal, who is diagnosed with autism, says the college discriminated against him because of his disability and was “grossly negligent” in its handling of a situation over a chemistry quiz that escalated into a run-in with security guards.
McDougal was suspended from the campus for two years following a February 2017 incident when prosecutors said he ran into a former professor’s classroom and shouted a racial slur at a campus security officer who took him into custody.
Despite the suspension, McDougal returned to the campus several weeks later and struggled with officers who took him into custody, according to court records.
College officials filed a workplace-violence restraining order against McDougal citing a history of “erratic and aggressive” interactions with faculty and security.
The restraining order request included an email in which McDougal wrote, “Haha, you guys are not doing a very good job at keeping me from going to class, are you?”
Four days after a judge approved the restring order, McDougal returned to the college and allegedly vandalized two campus-safety vehicles, slashing their tires and carving obscenities that included swastikas and racial slurs, prosecutors said.
McDougal has pleaded not guilty to multiple felony and misdemeanor charges.
According to the lawsuit, the problems started over a chemistry quiz when McDougal missed two questions after forgetting his calculator.
McDougal became so distraught and fixated over missing the two questions and how it would impact his “A” grade that he impulsively dropped the class and then tried to get reinstated.
The lawsuit says McDougal’s instructor in an email said he could re-take the quiz questions and be reinstated to the class.
But when McDougal showed up the following day, he became confused when he was told to wait outside until class was over and was then approached by security guards.
“Once the class bell rang (McDougal’s) sole focus was to get to (the) class to retake the two quiz questions,” the lawsuit says.
As he ran back into the classroom, he was slammed to the ground by security guards and sprayed with pepper spray, the suit says.
McDougal’s attorney, John Christl, said the college acted inappropriately in handing the situation. McDougal, who lives in Orange County, has since enrolled in another school, he said.
A representative of Coast Community College District declined to comment due to the ongoing litigation.
McDougal is alleging negligence, emotional distress, battery and false imprisonment. He is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
OC Register
