By NBC News and msnbc.com staff
A San Diego student said she was forced by a teacher to urinate into a bucket in the back of the classroom in the presence of her classmates.
The San Diego Unified School District said the teacher is now on administrative leave.
A claim against the district was filed Friday. The incident allegedly took place at Patrick Henry High School two weeks ago.
Read about the student's allegations at NBCSanDiego.com
According to the family's attorney Brian Watkins, the 14-year-old student was not allowed to use the restroom and was required to urinate in a bucket in the back of the classroom.
Watkins said the student told her teacher she had an urgent need to use the restroom. But the teacher told her that if she was going to use the restroom, it would be in a bucket, which was located in a storage room connected to the back of the class, or not at all.
Watkins said investigations are ongoing.
"In my wildest imagination I can't understand why something like this would happen," Watkins said. "So we hope to work with the school board and the administration to get to the bottom of this."
School district officials told NBCSanDiego they're taking the issue very seriously and addressing it appropriately.
The district said the teacher was put on administrative leave on Feb. 28, soon after the incident was brought to their attention.
This article includes reporting by NBCSanDiego.com and msnbc.com staff.
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