Teacher accused of intentionally coughing on toddler fired

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The teacher in California accused of taking off her mask and deliberately coughing on a 1-year-old because she believed that her mother was not maintaining social distancing guidelines has been fired.

The unidentified woman can be seen on surveillance video removing her mask and coughing on a child in a stroller at a yogurt shop in San Jose. The woman was apparently angry that the mother of the child was not social distancing at Yogurtland on June 12, according to KTVU.

The Oak Grove School District confirmed to KGO-TV that the woman, who was a special education teacher, was fired following the incident.

As many know, there have been allegations that a District employee was involved in a videotaped incident in which the person appeared to have intentionally coughed on a baby at a local Yogurtland. We want to inform our community that the District employee who was alleged to have engaged in this conduct is no longer an employee of our District. The Oak Grove School District’s highest priority is the safety of our students and the well-being of all of the children in the community we serve. We do not tolerate conduct from any employee that compromises any child’s safety. As we welcome our students back for learning this summer and in the fall in these unprecedented times, the District’s commitment to creating and maintaining a safe environment for our students is unwavering.

—  Statement released to KGO-TV by the Oak Grove School District

The mother, Mireya Mora, believes that the incident was racially motivated. She said that when she was at the yogurt shop with her son and grandmother, the woman that coughed on the child only after the family started speaking Spanish to each other, according to KTVU.

The act is considered assault and a felony crime during the COVID-19 pandemic, KTVU reported. The woman in the video has not yet been charged.

Cox Media Group