What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia
At 40, I left behind a 20-year career history in politics and sales to go back to college to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a teacher. During the transition, working as a substitute teacher in my local school district provided me with experience and a steady paycheck; I had a job every single day. For several weeks, my sister, Janet, a certified teacher, and I had been sharing 6th grade subbing duties at a local elementary school while the teacher was out having surgery. One day, the principal called to tell me I couldn't come back, that "accusations had been made," and someone from the school district would contact me. I was dumbfounded! I simply could not, in my wildest dreams, imagine what I could have been accused of doing.
Instead of waiting, I contacted the school district myself, and was allowed to come in for a meeting with Mr. Michaels, the district's "Child Safety Director." He informed me that he had interviewed all the students involved, but not how many, and was preparing his report, which I could not have a copy of, citing confidentiality. However, he did summarize some of what was in the report, including which students said what, so I am unclear as to what was confidential about the report. I was told that one student, Thomas, had come in with his parents to formally accuse me of "touching him on the buttocks." This was a complete lie and even sounded ridiculous; I don't know many 6th graders that use the word "buttocks." After that, the other students were called in to be questioned by Mr. Michaels, who, by his own admission, only recorded what they said (although "what they said" seems to have been coerced to some degree, given the use of phrases like, "It makes me feel uncomfortable when..."), but did not question the validity of their statements. The additional accusations were even weaker: "Mr. Brown put his hand on my back and felt my bra." (A reference by a student to a time I prevented her from stepping out of line by placing my hand on her upper back between her shoulder blades for no more than 2 seconds; at the time, she showed no reaction, but continued chatting with her friend without missing a beat.) The other allegations were equally as thin, and I wrote a formal response to each of them, inasmuch as I could recall what they were from the notes I took at the meeting.
My sister, who came with me, told Mr. Michaels she thought he should know that a few days prior, she had upset Thomas to the point of tears by giving him a zero on an assignment he had failed to complete and having him call his mother, who was extremely angry. My sister said she felt strongly this was no coincidence, particularly since the accusers were all in Thomas's close clique of friends. Mr. Michaels said he didn't feel that was relevant to the report.
Mr. Michaels ended the meeting by saying, "I wouldn't worry about all this. It's pretty weak stuff." I asked him what would happen next; he said the school board's personnel committee would meet to review the report. I told Mr. Michaels of my plans to become a teacher, and that it was of critical importance to me that my name be cleared, that I had done nothing wrong! That, he said, he would include in his report. He suggested I try to see the assistant director of human resources and plead my case; the AD would not see me, but said I could speak with the Director, who also would not see me. The day after I got word of all of this, I got a letter from the District saying I had been relieved of my duties effective immediately. It stated no cause.
All of this happened in early May. Since then, I have been unable to see or speak with anyone on the School District staff; I've had no written or verbal communication from them whatsoever. They will not return my phone calls or emails, and they are never in when I drop in unannounced. An acquaintance who is also an attorney suggested I file for unemployment to force a response from them. I did, and was, of course, denied. The official reason given by the school district, according to the Dept. of Labor, was that I was "accused of inappropriately touching 7 students and crawling under a desk." (This was presented by a student as an incident that made her feel "uncomfortable;" I had to kneel on the floor near her desk to plug into an outlet that was in a hard-to-reach location.)
I don't know what to do next. I know I have been harmed, but I'm not sure how, or if, I've been legally harmed. If so, in what way? I have given up on plans to teach, not knowing how these unfounded accusations will haunt me. It has devastated both me, my family and my fiancee. Nobody seems to care or be concerned about learning the truth, only closing the file. My reputation, name and integrity have been damaged; I feel I can't move forward with anything without some resolution, and I can't get any answers from anyone. Any advice, even on what step to take next, would be gratefully appreciated. What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia
At 40, I left behind a 20-year career history in politics and sales to go back to college to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a teacher. During the transition, working as a substitute teacher in my local school district provided me with experience and a steady paycheck; I had a job every single day. For several weeks, my sister, Janet, a certified teacher, and I had been sharing 6th grade subbing duties at a local elementary school while the teacher was out having surgery. One day, the principal called to tell me I couldn't come back, that "accusations had been made," and someone from the school district would contact me. I was dumbfounded! I simply could not, in my wildest dreams, imagine what I could have been accused of doing.
Instead of waiting, I contacted the school district myself, and was allowed to come in for a meeting with Mr. Michaels, the district's "Child Safety Director." He informed me that he had interviewed all the students involved, but not how many, and was preparing his report, which I could not have a copy of, citing confidentiality. However, he did summarize some of what was in the report, including which students said what, so I am unclear as to what was confidential about the report. I was told that one student, Thomas, had come in with his parents to formally accuse me of "touching him on the buttocks." This was a complete lie and even sounded ridiculous; I don't know many 6th graders that use the word "buttocks." After that, the other students were called in to be questioned by Mr. Michaels, who, by his own admission, only recorded what they said (although "what they said" seems to have been coerced to some degree, given the use of phrases like, "It makes me feel uncomfortable when..."), but did not question the validity of their statements. The additional accusations were even weaker: "Mr. Brown put his hand on my back and felt my bra." (A reference by a student to a time I prevented her from stepping out of line by placing my hand on her upper back between her shoulder blades for no more than 2 seconds; at the time, she showed no reaction, but continued chatting with her friend without missing a beat.) The other allegations were equally as thin, and I wrote a formal response to each of them, inasmuch as I could recall what they were from the notes I took at the meeting.
My sister, who came with me, told Mr. Michaels she thought he should know that a few days prior, she had upset Thomas to the point of tears by giving him a zero on an assignment he had failed to complete and having him call his mother, who was extremely angry. My sister said she felt strongly this was no coincidence, particularly since the accusers were all in Thomas's close clique of friends. Mr. Michaels said he didn't feel that was relevant to the report.
Mr. Michaels ended the meeting by saying, "I wouldn't worry about all this. It's pretty weak stuff." I asked him what would happen next; he said the school board's personnel committee would meet to review the report. I told Mr. Michaels of my plans to become a teacher, and that it was of critical importance to me that my name be cleared, that I had done nothing wrong! That, he said, he would include in his report. He suggested I try to see the assistant director of human resources and plead my case; the AD would not see me, but said I could speak with the Director, who also would not see me. The day after I got word of all of this, I got a letter from the District saying I had been relieved of my duties effective immediately. It stated no cause.
All of this happened in early May. Since then, I have been unable to see or speak with anyone on the School District staff; I've had no written or verbal communication from them whatsoever. They will not return my phone calls or emails, and they are never in when I drop in unannounced. An acquaintance who is also an attorney suggested I file for unemployment to force a response from them. I did, and was, of course, denied. The official reason given by the school district, according to the Dept. of Labor, was that I was "accused of inappropriately touching 7 students and crawling under a desk." (This was presented by a student as an incident that made her feel "uncomfortable;" I had to kneel on the floor near her desk to plug into an outlet that was in a hard-to-reach location.)
I don't know what to do next. I know I have been harmed, but I'm not sure how, or if, I've been legally harmed. If so, in what way? I have given up on plans to teach, not knowing how these unfounded accusations will haunt me. It has devastated both me, my family and my fiancee. Nobody seems to care or be concerned about learning the truth, only closing the file. My reputation, name and integrity have been damaged; I feel I can't move forward with anything without some resolution, and I can't get any answers from anyone. Any advice, even on what step to take next, would be gratefully appreciated. What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia
