Student Says He Was Discriminated Against At His North Hollywood School After Initial Reports Of Coronavirus

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A North Hollywood student claims he was discriminated against following the initial reports of coronavirus in China because he is Asian.

Dylan Muriano said he was sent to the nurse's office at Walter Reed Middle School after he coughed in class. Dylan said he choked on some water and told his teacher he was fine, but was still made to go to the nurse.

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Dylan said that when he asked the teacher why non-Asian students were not made to see the nurse when they coughed in class, the teacher started retaliating against him.

"I was going to let it go and just move on," Dylan said. "But I thought to myself, 'What if the teacher does it again, or does it to another student in the future?'"

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A complaint was filed Friday with the federal civil rights office.

"No child should be treated differently in a public school because of their race or national origin or on the basis of false beliefs or stereotypes that they may or may not be carrying a disease," attorney Gloria Allred said.

Dylan, whose mother is former KCAL 9 reporter Leyna Nguyen, has since been moved to a different class. The teacher remains at the school.

Los Angeles Unified School District said it had no comment on the case.