WHITE PLAINS – A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Anderson Center for Autism by the parents of an autistic boy who was abused by staff member Garnet Collins, who is named in the suit. Nadine Thompson, the supervisor for Collins, is also being sued.
Parents Anil and Shalini Babbar, in the lawsuit, say that while their son was a resident at the Anderson Center, he was subjected to “abuse, neglect, and disability-based mistreatment” by Collins, and his supervisor, Nadine Thompson, was aware of the abuse but did not take action to report or prevent the abuse.
Collins was arrested by state troopers in August 2024 after a whistleblower sent the student’s mother a video of Collins physically assaulting her son. Garnet Collins, 50, of Poughkeepsie, was charged with two felony counts of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and one misdemeanor count of forcible touching.
In January 2025, . In exchange for his plea, the DA’s office agreed to a sentence of one to three years in prison for Collins. At his sentencing in May, Collins heard from noting that he could be released after one year. He told the court that his son, who no longer attends the Anderson School, now suffers from PTSD in addition to his autism, including random episodes of yelling out “No. No. No, Garnet, it hurts.”
The Babbar family is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages from the Anderson Center, Collins, and Thompson.
The family attorney noted that their incident is not an isolated one. As reported by Mid-Hudson News, Anderson Center employee Deijeanae Edwards, 22, of Poughkeepsie, was arrested by state police on August 7, 2025, after coworkers noticed bruising on a student resident’s body. After Edwards was charged with endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, the , saying, “Additional staff members immediately intervened in this situation, and the individual was removed from the residence and placed on administrative leave. We also reported this to law enforcement and are supporting the ongoing investigation into this matter. We have a strict zero‑tolerance policy for any action that puts the safety of our residents at risk, and the well‑being of those we serve remains our highest priority.”