WAUKESHA — A parent has filed a lawsuit against the Waukesha School District and School Board, claiming her child got sick with COVID-19 after being exposed by a classmate and because the school district does not have a mask requirement in place.
The child is a student a Rose Glen Elementary School. The lawsuit alleges he had his 14th Amendment right, to be protected from state created dangers at school, violated.
Waukesha School District Superintendent James Sebert responded to TMJ4's request for comment in an email saying: "We received a COVID-19 complaint for filing yesterday. We have not been formally served. Immediately we contacted our attorneys and on the advice of our counsel we have been advised not to respond further at this time.
The lawsuit says there was a mask policy in place at Waukesha schools last year, but it ended on May 12 with no new policy put in place.
In a declaration included in the lawsuit, the mother said that as a family they decided to send their kids to school wearing masks despite the district not requiring them. She said other students did not wear masks at school.
The lawsuit claims a classmate of the child came to school with COVID-19 symptoms on Sept. 16 and 17 before being sent home. The child in the lawsuit allegedly sat next to that classmate each day. The mother said in the declaration that her child became symptomatic and tested positive on Sept. 19. She said her other kids, also enrolled in the school district, became sick with COVID-19 a few days later.
The lawsuit claims all of the children missed several days of school and extracurricular activities due to being sick.
The lawsuit is being funded by the Minocqua Brewing Company Super Pac.
"Ultimately we don't want a lawsuit that lasts a year," said super pac founder Kirk Bangstad. "We want an injunction where a judge says until we suss out what the defense has to say and what the plaintiffs have to say, we're gonna put masks on kids too young to get vaccinated."
Bangstand is also the owner of the Mincoqua Brewing Company in Northern Wisconsin. He and his restaurant caught national attention after hanging up a giant "Biden-Harris" sign on the building and for a line of "progressive" beer.
Through the class action lawsuit, his hope is that all Wisconsin schools will be forced to have mask requirements in place.
"We're trying to define a class of school boards that involve all school boards that aren't following the COVID precautions," he said.
The lawsuit is filed in Wisconsin's eastern district. He's hoping to bring another lawsuit to the western district.