Chicago attorney Jay Paul Deratany—whose practice, The Deratany Firm, chiefly handles personal injury litigation—has agreed to take on the case of a mother who removed her gay son from school after repeated bullying incidents. That case, in which mother Rhonda Mangus was charged with educational neglect for attempting to home-school her son, Michael, was brought and is currently under appeal in New York state. The Manguses live in North Tonawanda, N.Y.
Deratany, a prominent local figure who has run for Cook County Board of Review, told Windy City Times that he learned about the Manguses through his “computer guy.” After hearing the details of the case, he said that he agreed to take it on pro bono.
When Michael Mangus was 13 years old, Deratany said, he came out to his classmates—only to be “taunted severely” for it. The Tonawanda News reported that Michael Mangus was the subject of “chronic physical and emotional abuse by his peers,” including “at least one death threat.”
His mother Rhonda, a substitute teacher at the school, eventually decided to home-school him. “What she wanted was a safe school environment,” Deratany said.
Instead she found herself charged with “educational neglect”—the charge which is now being appealed. One important issue that the case revolves around, said Deratany, is the security of students.
“Gay and lesbian kids don’t feel safe coming out,” he said. “A duty of a school is to provide a safe environment to learn.”
Deratany said that his firm is seeking local attorneys in New York to collaborate on the case, adding that they hope to work with the New York chapter of Lambda Legal.