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Parents of autistic student found dead on bus files wrongful-death lawsuit

December 11, 2015
Hun Joon Lee, center, with his parents Lee Sang-sik, left, and Lee Eun-ha, right, celebrating his 15th birthday.

Hun Joon Lee, center, with his parents Lee Sang-sik, left, and Lee Eun-ha, right, celebrating his 15th birthday.

By Kim Dong-hee

The parents of Hun Joon Lee, a 19-year-old autistic student who was found dead inside a school bus in September during a heat wave, have filed a lawsuit against the bus transportation company for wrongful death.

Lee Eun-ha and Lee Sang-sik said in their lawsuit filed Monday to the Los Angeles Superior Court that the death of their son was brought on by a lack of policies in place by Pupil Transportation Cooperative to make sure students are not left on buses.

On Sept. 11, Hun Joon Lee, also known as Paul, boarded a bus headed toward Sierra Vista Adult School at approximately 8:30 a.m. but was left inside for seven hours.

Following a worried call by Lee Eun-ha when he did not return home that afternoon, his body was found on the floor of the vehicle.

Temperatures ran about 100 degrees that day.

The Lees called on the bus company to take responsibility for the death of their son.

Bus employees did not “do a mandatory and routine sweep of the subject bus prior to exiting, especially considering that there were only three children on the subject bus who were of special needs,” and the operator failed “to document or confirm [Paul's] arrival at school … and neglected to pay attention to [him] for an extended period of time during the bus ride and failed to recognize, respond to or assist [him] in any manner,” the lawsuit reads.

Neither Pupil Transportation Cooperative nor the school district have commented on the lawsuit.

According to Whittier Daily News, company officials implemented policy changes, including a team checking system to prevent anyone from being left on one of its buses, following Hun Joon Lee’s death.

According to the Lees, the family immigrated to the United States in 2000 in hopes of a better life for Hun Joon after learning of his condition at age 4.