The southern California community college that punished an autistic student for trying to make friends by offering “fist bumps” and asking to take “selfies” has officially filed a notice of appeal after a court ruled the school needed to remove the negative marks from the student’s transcript.
The student at the center of the case is Marcus Knight, who has autism, cerebral palsy, and a shunt in his brain to relieve fluid pressure. Knight and his mother, Aurora, have fought his entire life for him to be treated like everyone else. He had been taught at a young age that he could try to make friends by offering fist bumps, and that asking people to take selfies with him would be inoffensive, since Marcus has difficulty making friends due to his disabilities.
While enrolled at Saddleback College, however, these simple and inoffensive gestures left Marcus with sexual misconduct marks on his permanent record.
One female student accused him of making her uncomfortable when he asked for a fist bump. Another said Marcus had “over 300 photos” of her on his phone, but this was due to his cerebral palsy and accidentally pressing the “burst” option when taking a selfie. Another student claimed Marcus was following her and staring at her.
Marcus’ story should be one about intolerance toward people with disabilities. Instead, thanks to the #MeToo movement, it is about sexual harassment.
Marcus was not allowed to defend himself against the allegations, his mother and attorney, Mark Hathaway, have alleged. The hearing against him was cancelled after one of Marcus’ accusers refused to testify and failed to appear. Despite this, Marcus was punished with Title IX-related marks on his transcripts, making him look like a sexual predator. Marcus was allowed to continue his studies at Saddleback, but must be accompanied at all times by a handler.
Marcus’ mother, Aurora, has been devastated by her son’s treatment. She launched a GoFundMe account to raise money to sue Saddleback. She was able to hire Hathaway, who has had numerous successes for male students denied due process.
In late November, a court ruled that Saddleback must remove the misconduct sanctions from Marcus’ transcript. At the time, Saddleback appeared to agree to remove the sanctions, but a week later, a spokesperson for the school told reporter Toni Airaksinen that Saddleback would appeal the sanctions.
Aurora was surprised by the turn around, telling The Daily Wire at the time that she couldn’t believe Saddleback was “really out to destroy my son!!”
Now Saddleback has made their intentions official. The school on December 5th filed a notice of appeal with the court, according to a document obtained by The Daily Wire.
Hathaway, Marcus’ attorney, previously told The Daily Wire that he “would continue to fight for Marcus Knight.” Aurora said she just wants “justice for my son” and “to see him happy again.”
“I have been fighting for my son[‘s] right to be for 20 years,” she said. “All he wants is to be like everyone else. Have friends, people that loves him.”