The mother of a five-year-old is suing the Hamilton County Schools, saying that her daughter with herpes was "strip searched" by the school nurse without her knowledge.
Brandy Madden lodged the suit in Federal Court.
The suit, filed by attorney Valerie Epstein, asks unspecified compensatory damages for "great emotional distress and suffering, humiliation and embarrassment, and for all medical expenses past and future."
The suit says the child was five years old when she attended Apison Elementary School.
The mother on Aug. 16, 2012, gave written notice to the school that her daughter had congenital herpes simplex and indicated how to treat it.
The suit says the school never contacted the mother about the issue until Nov. 12, 2012, when the mother was called and told that it was urgent that she leave work and pick up her child from school because "she was contagious."
The school asked that before the child return to school she have a written statement from a doctor saying she was not contagious. The complaint says, the next day, a letter was given to the school from Dr. Janara Huff, a specialist in pediatric infectious disease, saying that the child's lesions were not contagious when covered. The mother asked that her daughter be allowed to return to school.
The complaint says the principal said the mother would have to speak to Sheryl Rogers, a nurse with the School Health Program Office of the county schools, because the child could not return to school despite the letter. Ms. Rogers told the mother the child could not return to school.
The suit says Ms. Madden then asked Sonya Neal, Apison school nurse, how the school became aware that her daughter had a lesion. The suit says Ms. Neal stated that, acting under the direction of Ms. Rogers, she "had been removing all of the minor plaintiff's clothes on a daily basis for several weeks, looking at all areas of the minor plaintiff's body, including her genitals."
The complaint says the mother was "shocked, upset and hurt to learn these facts."
It says, "Neither Sonya Neal, Sheryl Rogers, nor anyone with HCDE or Apison Elementary obtained adult plaintiff's consent to remove all of the minor plaintiff's clothes and inspect the minor plaintiff's body."
The suit says the search was unnecessary because the mother "had been taking care of the child for five years and knew how to treat any outbreaks without spreading the disease."
It says, as a result of the issue with the school, the mother had to take time off from work and ultimately lost her job.
The complaint states, "National and state nursing guidelines restrict medical examinations of students, and prohibit a genital examination of a student absent parental consent or a medical emergency."