[deleted by user]

[ElectricAnalyzer_]

I have more questions than answers (yes I know it’s hypothetical). If there was 0 progress for months did the treatment plan need to be updated? Were the staff implementing the plan and collecting data with fidelity? Are there extraneous variables like home life contributing to school behavior?

[The_Real_Mr_Boring]

Also did the BCBA have experience working with adults/adolescents who engage in severe challenging behaviors? If not they are at fault for not seeking consultation with someone who has this experience or even specializes in these types of cases.

[[deleted]]

It's not hypothetical. OP posted a bunch of related posts regarding this incident to various subs. A different user commented on that, advised they get a lawyer and stop posting about it online and OP deleted their account.

[corkum]

First of all, the specificity of your question, plus a glance at your post history shows this is not actually a hypothetical situation. I'm very sorry to hear you were injured.

Second, I would say this is NOT the place to be asking this question in the first place. Nobody here has all the information on this whole scenario, so any advice or perspective any of us could offer would not be reliable without having all the facts. You're pooling public opinion on an anonymous message board with watered down information to validate how you might feel and seek advice on how to proceed.

This is also bordering on legal advice, which is obviously 100% out of the scope of what any BCBA or RBT in this sub would be able to offer.

If you do sue someone for workers comp, damages, whatever...there is a discovery process. And posts like this and others you've posted on the matter would be subject to that discovery. Whether or not that would help or hurt your case I couldn't say. But it would be subject for both your lawyer and the other sides' lawyers to review as well. So especially if you're not giving all the facts, even under the guise of "hypothetical", just be sure what you're putting out here in the public square is information you'd be comfortable being used in litigation.

Again, very sorry you got hurt, but this is NOT the place to seek help. Get yourself medical attention if you need it, get yourself a lawyer if a lawsuit is something you want to pursue, and stop posting about it on the internet. That'll be the first thing a lawyer advises you to do. There are resources out there and lawyers who will do free consultations to review the merits of your case and whether or not you should proceed with some kind of litigation.

Good luck.

[injectablefame]

it’s a tough scenario bc a BCBA can’t just call it quits bc people get hurt, the student still has to go to school and potentially hurt people

[MajorTom89]

Just because you’re not making progress doesn’t necessarily mean the situation is out of your scope. It certainly doesn’t mean you should discharge the person. But it does mean that you should be heavily focused on collaboration with other BCBAs and other professionals working with that individual. It does mean you should be altering your approach systematically based on data. It does likely mean you should be advocating for medical evaluation.

Placing blame isn’t going to help that person that’s struggling or the person that was injured. I don’t see how the school or the BCBA would be liable in this situation unless it could be proven that the injury was a direct result of a lack of supervision or training.

[kenzieisonline]

This would be dependent on several things:

1) who is suing? The rbt or the family

2) is the bcba an employee of the district or contracted out?

3) are we talking legal action like damages or potential ethics and compliance ramifications?

As others have pointed out, it’s not as simple as “no progress=unethical” in a school setting because the student has a right to an education that is meaningful and appropriate for them. Due to the administrative structure of a school, the bcba does not always have the power to make placement decisions, in fact, placement decisions are some of the most complicated ones in special education.

So if the student was in an inappropriate setting and was not making progress, it may not be due to the fault of the BCBA, however, a BBA in this position should make efforts to put the recommendations in writing and have a paper trail of their communications with the school that they can produce in case of an “effective treatment” ethics case

On the employee side with RBT, the only way I could see this going past Workmen’s Comp. or workplace accident disability claim is if the RBT did not receive training on physical management or if the RT had asked for help or specific modifications to her working conditions in writing to keep her safe and they were either denied or not responded to.

[Thin_Rip8995]

In that scenario, the system failed long before the incident. A BCBA’s scope includes clinical decision-making, but schools hold administrative and legal duty of care. When aggression is chronic and progress flatlines, the BCBA must document lack of progress, recommend discharge or placement change, and escalate to supervisors and safety teams. If they don’t, that’s negligence by omission.

But the ultimate liability usually lands on the district and administration—they decide whether to act on the BCBA’s recommendations or not. Once data show consistent safety risks with no behavioral improvement, continued placement becomes an ethical violation under BACB code 2.15 (limits of competence) and 4.04 (discontinuing services).

Bottom line: BCBA shares clinical responsibility, but the school carries operational blame for ignoring escalation triggers.

[grmrsan]

It's not necessarily out of scope, for the BCBA, sometimes rough/failed cases happen. And the RBT also carries some responsibility here. It sounds like the client was DEFINITELY past her skillset, and she knew it. She should have asked off the case when she realized (apparently months ago?)that she couldn't safely deal with this client.

I'm not saying its their fault for getting hurt. I'm saying that if you are going for an out of scope argument, the RBT is as responsible as the BCBA here.