A New York City school for special needs children is a filth hole where roaches climb on children, rats roam the halls and \u201cgood-old-boy\u201d staff members engage in sexual harassment,\u00a0a lawsuit filed by a former employee this week alleges.
\nThe\u00a0International Institute for the Brain (iBRAIN)\u2019s\u00a0building on East 91st Street was \u201cextremely filthy\u201d and crawling with vermin\u2013 all while receiving up to $350,000 in taxpayer funding per student, ex-worker Katelyn Newman claims in the New York Supreme Court suit filed Jan. 16.
\n\u201cLeaks in the plumbing were stuffed up with Dorito bags or whatever else was readily available,\u201d when Newman began working at the facility, the complaint reads.
\n\u201cThe carcass of a rat could be seen for an extended time period before it was finally removed, and the ceiling over the entryway where the children entered the building was falling down.\u201d
\nDespite allegedly receiving $1 million in PPP money in 2020 and $800,000 in 2021, the school also struggled with a \u201csevere lack of equipment,\u201d and students were reportedly forced to sleep on dirty mats.
\nAccording to the lawsuit,\u00a0first reported by The Daily Beast, one student was hospitalized after an incompetent staffer botched a medical procedure, blocking his circulation and causing his legs to swell.
\nThe troubling picture Newman paints of the floundering institution is a far-cry from its advertising.
\nFounded in 2018, iBRAIN professes to be a \u201chighly specialized educational opportunity\u201d for students ages five through 21 with severe brain injuries or neurological disorders.
\nNewman worked at the school as a publicity associate beginning in Aug. 2022. She quit in mid-December after what she describes as a prolonged campaign of gender discrimination and sexual harassment.
\nThe suit\u2019s most concerning allegations come against Dr. Victor Pedro, who she claims falsified his credentials as a \u201cBoard Certified Chiropractic Neurologist\u201d made \u201csexually suggestive\u201d remarks to female staff.
\nShe says Pedro, the school\u2019s Chief Innovation Officer (CIO), pushed an unfounded treatment called Cortical Integrated Therapy (CIT) \u2014 which in Newman\u2019s view, used children as\u00a0\u201chuman\u00a0guinea pigs.\u201d
\nAlthough the lawsuit did not describe what CIT entails, Pedro\u2019s website hawks PEDROCIT\u00ae, which he claims is a non-invasive system that \u201caccurately pinpoints and identifies the injured or under-performing areas of the brain.\u201d
\nThe lawsuit notes that the United States Department of Health and Human Services rejected Pedro\u2019s application to have CIT covered by Medicare in 2017.
\nTwo years later, The Providence Journal reported that Rhode Island\u00a0yanked $1 million in state budget funding\u00a0for the treatment.
\nStudents were also allegedly exposed to bogus treatments by Rodney Robinson, who is\u00a0now facing federal charges\u00a0over a years-long con during which he posed as \u201cDr. Alim Shariff,\u201d a Harvard-educated behavioral psychologist, the suit said.
\nNewman also cites inappropriate behavior by Patrick Donohue, iBRAIN\u2019s founder and chairman, whom she says fostered a \u201c\u2018good old boy\u2019 fraternity\u201d environment among staffers.
\nNeither Pedro, school officials nor Donohue replied to The Post\u2019s request for comments. Robinson could not immediately be reached for comment.<\/p>\n