Dad speaks out after winning grandparents’ visitation rights case

A father from Rhode Island speak out After winning a lawsuit against his late wife’s parents regarding his daughter’s visitation rights.

“This is about the rights of parents. Being a grandparent does not give you inherent rights over your grandchildren,” Scott Naso told ABC News’ Juju Chang. “I think being a grandparent is a privilege.”

Naso said he has been living in “survival mode” since the death of his wife, Shahrzad “Sherry” Naso, two years ago and is embroiled in a legal battle with his father-in-law, Siavash Ghoreishi and Jila Khorsand, both former medical doctors.

Before she died Sherry Naso fought breast cancer According to Scott Naso, he underwent multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatments before his cancer went into remission. They later got married, started a family with the help of a surrogate mother, and welcomed their daughter Laila, he said.

According to Scott Naso, Sherry Naso’s parents lived near the family and helped out when they needed help.

Scott Naso said that in 2023, his wife started feeling unwell again.

“His family kept telling him his symptoms were related to Prozac [a type of medication used to treat depression and other conditions] withdrawal transactions. “I believed this as an ordinary person, not a doctor,” he said. “I know. [Sherry Naso] he believed it. “I really thought it was.”

Rhode Island Family Court records show some of Sherry Naso’s text message conversations with her parents. In some messages, when Sherry Naso complained about the symptoms she was experiencing, her family told her that she did not need to see other doctors and that she should wait for the symptoms to pass.

Scott Naso said at the time that he believed his late wife’s parents, but also felt he needed to get a second expert opinion.

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He said his wife later met with a friend’s father, who is a neurologist, and a day later she went to the emergency room for treatment.

“He had brain surgery and it was a brain tumor that was about 18 inches. So it’s about the size of a golf ball,” Scott Naso said. “They performed surgery and…he came out of the surgery in a coma. He died 11 days later, on April 24, 2024.”

He also said that on the day of his wife’s death, he witnessed his parents treating his daughter Laila in a way that disturbed him.

“Sherry’s parents had Laila pinned to the ground. Sherry’s mother had her pinned by the shoulders, and Sherry’s father had one hand on her chest,” claims Scott Naso. “I now know it was a prednisone syringe. [a type of steroid hormone that can be used as an anti-inflammatory agent or immunosuppressant] He said he shot her in the throat.”

Ghoreishi told the court that as Laila’s pediatrician, he treated her for croup, a type of upper respiratory tract infection, and did not realize he needed to get Scott Naso’s permission to treat his grandson.

After Sherry Naso died, Scott Naso testified in court that his father, Ghoreishi, closed his pediatric practice and his mother, Khorsand, resigned from her job. Both Ghoreishi and Khorsand subsequently allowed their medical licenses to expire.

Scott Naso said that he decided in the summer of 2024 that he no longer wanted Ghoreishi and Khorsand to visit Laila.

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Ghoreishi and Khorsand petitioned a family court judge for visitation rights, claiming they had rights as grandparents.

“The one thing I would say about grandparents’ rights is they are petitioning for visitation because grandparents don’t have that natural visitation right,” Scott Naso said.

A judge granted Ghoreishi and Khorsand temporary supervised visits, but the visits were paused during an investigation by the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families. Scott Naso filed a complaint with the state health department, accusing the grandparents of improperly prescribing medication for his wife and daughter for years, the Boston Globe reported.

He later refused to continue temporary supervised visits, and for doing so was held in contempt of court for violating a court order. The court ordered him to pay a $2,500 fine.

The trial lasted months, and ultimately a judge ruled in Scott Naso’s favor based on a key piece of evidence that Ghoreishi and Khorsand presented in court — a secretly recorded tape of Scott Naso listing his concerns about Ghoreishi and Khorsand to family friends.

“One of my concerns was essentially that they were spying on me, following me, having me followed, following Laila, and I was like, ‘Are you here to spy on me? Are you here to record me?’ I said. … Turns out they were.”

The judge ordered visitation only and did not hear any evidence or make any findings of fact or law regarding whether Ghoreishi and Khorsand contributed to their daughter’s death, nor did he make any findings or legal claims of malpractice.

Scott Naso has said since the hearing that Laila “never wanted to see” her grandparents.

When asked what she would say to her daughter if she asked about her grandparents, she said, “When she grows up, of course it will be something we will talk about.”

Ghoreishi and Khorsand’s attorney told ABC News they had no comment at this time and were referred to the judge’s written decision on the matter.

Watch the rest of ABC News’ Juju Chang’s “Nightline” interview with Scott Naso on Friday, May 15 at 12:35 p.m. on ABC and stream it on Hulu and Disney+ the next day.