Need Advice Please

[wannateachintx]

What is the name of your state? Texas



Ok, I have recently graduated from college with my teaching certification. Prior to that I worked nine years with the school district that I graduated from. During three of those years, I worked as an assistant under another teacher. We got along great until the last year I was in that department.


I have since found a full-time teaching position with a nearby but separate school district. Today my former principal called me and told me that this teacher had called my new district and told them that I'm not good around children and that I have several lawsuits against me (I don't).


Well, my new principal called me later this afternoon and filled me in on some more information. He said that the teacher had called my new school and spoke to the secretary and told her that. Apparently (big mistake on her part?) she left her name and number and he called her back when he returned to the campus. He said that she told him that she has a lawsuit against me claiming I was harassing her. He went on to say that she told him that I pulled her into a closet and threated her life if she didn't go out with me. She went on to tell him that I have lots of lawsuits against me and a liability to the district and that I emailed her constantly harassing her and so forth. All of this should be proven because I haven't emailed her in two years (since I worked with her).


My question is this. What should I do? I am really, really hurt by this, especially considering the fact that I have just gotten hired at a new school in a new district about to start my first teaching job. The new principal totally backs me. I am not sure what is going on but do not like it one bit and afraid it will only get worse. I have been told to get an attorney or file charges, whatever against her.


What can/should I do? I feel like if I don't stand up for myself and my name, it'll only continue and get worse. Thanks for your time.

 

[quincy]

Defamation is communication which exposes a person to hatred, ridicule or contempt, lowers them in the esteem of others, causes them to be shunned, or injures them in their business or profession.

There would be difficulties bringing a defamation suit against this teacher currently. You have a job and this teacher's comments have not affected you in your job, yet. You must show "injury" or damages in order to have a successful suit. Proofs are also hard to obtain. Plus, a defamation suit can cost thousands of dollars to bring, take an enormous amount of time, and then there is no guarantee you would win such a suit.

Your best recourse may be to contact a lawyer and have the lawyer draft a letter to this teacher saying you will bring charges if this teacher does not cease and desist. Hopefully the other school district will deal with the teacher, but you can also file a complaint with this district. Right now your own school supports you, which is fortunate.

You said that you had no problems with this one teacher until the last year you worked under her. What happened then?

 

[wannateachintx]

Defamation is communication which exposes a person to hatred, ridicule or contempt, lowers them in the esteem of others, causes them to be shunned, or injures them in their business or profession.

There would be difficulties bringing a defamation suit against this teacher currently. You have a job and this teacher's comments have not affected you in your job, yet. You must show "injury" or damages in order to have a successful suit. Proofs are also hard to obtain. Plus, a defamation suit can cost thousands of dollars to bring, take an enormous amount of time, and then there is no guarantee you would win such a suit.

Your best recourse may be to contact a lawyer and have the lawyer draft a letter to this teacher saying you will bring charges if this teacher does not cease and desist. Hopefully the other school district will deal with the teacher, but you can also file a complaint with this district. Right now your own school supports you, which is fortunate.

You said that you had no problems with this one teacher until the last year you worked under her. What happened then?

It has already affected me in my job. The teacher in question called and made derogatory and untrue statements about me . The principal of my new district was called and he made a call to my old district (where the teacher in question still works) as well as contacting his own administration. If that doesn't affect it already, I don't know what does. He did ask me if I had anything against me and of course, I don't. As far as proof, I think that is established isn't it? She called and left her name and number and my new principal called her back. That's messed up and truly a mistake on her part. I have already thought about getting a lawyer involved.

You mentioned the former school district. Would you go to them? If so, how? I thought about going to them but will be honest in saying that I don't know the first thing to say. I know my new principal has even contacted their administration and made them aware of anything. I feel like if I don't do something, this will continue. As far as what happened that last year, we had a disagreement one particular day and I went to the principal to discuss the matter and unbeknowst to the both of us, she was in the staff bathroom hearing the whole conversation. Ever since then, she has been ugly to me. She also told the principal that I sent her many emails that were harrassing and threatening. Can't that easily be proven? I welcome anyone to look at phone/email records. I am definitely in the right here but absolutely do not appreciate someone trying to ruin me in my new job. That is absurd.

 

[quincy]

You may have been personally affected by this teacher's calls to your new school, but you still have a job and a new school that currently still supports you. If your new principal has already contacted the school board administration of your new school AND of your old school, and there doesn't seem to be a problem with your retaining the job, I wouldn't worry.
The school administration of your old school needs to be aware of this teacher's actions. They will probably investigate any complaints made by you about this teacher and if you have an attorney draft a letter to the school board, it may be more effective. Since your old principal was involved in the conversation about this teacher during your last year there, she is already aware of the problem and can be your ally.
As for the emails, if they were supposedly sent via school computers, these can be accessed by the school.
Again, however, unless you have suffered a loss of your job or a drop in income as a result of this teacher's comments, or have suffered severe emotional distress (severe enough to be treated by a doctor), your damages would not support a defamation claim at this point.

 

[wannateachintx]

Thank you. You have been a huge help. Would any of this be considered slander? I'm just afraid it's going to happen again. I will be going to my old administration on Monday morning and filing a complaint at that time. Thanks again.

 

[quincy]

Yes, the comments made could be considered slanderous if untrue (slander is the spoken form of defamation and libel is the written form), but, as I said, the slander has not affected you in your work place yet, so it would be unlikely that you could win such a defamation suit. Going over everything with an attorney could give you a clearer picture of what you have against this teacher, however. But certainly filing a complaint with the school administration at your old school is a good first step and hopefully you can resolve all issues without the expense of court (in addition, your NEW school may not like having you involved in any litigation.....)

 

[wannateachintx]

Quincy, it has been suggested that I also seek to appear before the "old" school district at its next board meeting. What do you think about this? I have typed up a complaint form and will go to the administration building next week with it. I don't want to get ugly at all but want to be sure that my case is heard and this won't happen again. I think mentioning an attorney would be a no-no, correct?

 

[quincy]

I am not so sure it is wise to speak at a board meeting - there is always the chance that you could say something that you would regret later on. It is hard to self-censor what you say if comments or questions get ugly. I think it is best to draft a complaint letter only, and have, if possible, an attorney look it over to make sure you are not opening YOURSELF up to any defamation suit by what you are writing.

I also would only mention that you intend to get an attorney if it does not appear that the situation with this other teacher can be resolved any other way. Give it time to be resolved. An attorney and a lawsuit should be a last resort, and only if this teacher has caused irreparable harm to you at the new school. You want to avoid having the teacher, or the school board, get an attorney and FORCE you into responding before you have a case against them that you can win. Lawsuits are time consuming and can get expensive pretty quickly, especially on a beginning teacher's salary.

 

[wannateachintx]

Thanks again. You have been such a huge help and I really appreciate it. I have typed up a letter of complaint. Basically it has names and contact info of those involved. It also has my account of phone calls and when they happened and what the parties told me. That is it. There is nothing said of the perpetrator in a negative way. All the letter contains is an account of the afternoon and what the two phone calls I received said.

 

[quincy]

Sounds perfect. I hope this is all you will need to get the matter resolved.

Not the best way to start a new job, huh?

 

[wannateachintx]

Absolutely not. I think things are fine with my new district. I went yesterday morning to talk to the old administration. Of course they were aware of it but as they said, they're really not involved in it (I don't think this is true because she said that I face some lawsuits from parents of children in the district.) I wanted to file a complaint but got the impression that it wasn't their problem and I should drop it. What do you think? I don't want her getting by with this because it WILL happen again, to me or someone else if I don't. She will think "hey I got away with it." Can a district tell me I cannot file a complaint?

 

[quincy]

I don't believe you can be prevented from filing a complaint against a teacher. The old administration may not want to spend the time and money it would take to investigate the issue, however, and I am not sure there is much you can do about that.

I would definitely check with an attorney if it appears there may be lawsuits filed against you from parents - is there any reason why this teacher you worked under would make such a claim? Is there anything at all to support this teacher's allegations? An attorney would be a necessity for you if any of this can be supported in any way - for advice as to how to proceed, if nothing else.

If your new school is supporting you, and there is no truth to anything this other teacher is claiming, and the old school does not do any invesitigating that needs your attention, and the old teacher refrains from any other assaults on your character, I would simply prepare for an enjoyable new school year with a new school and, hopefully, a new group of nice teachers and kids

 

[wannateachintx]

No, this whole thing is crazy. There are absolutely no lawsuits against me. I've never even gotten stopped. That's how clean my record is. I believe jealousy and hatred are the reasons she is doing this. First, I worked in that particular department for years prior to her and already was established in the community and district. I think that was an issue but don't know for certain. I have no idea what is going on with this but simply want it to be stopped. She wants in a classroom and maybe because I got a classroom position, it riled her. I simply don't know. Aside from this particular teacher, I have enjoyed graduating from this particular district and working. Should I just drop it and move on. My main worry though with doing that is if it happens again, even with myself or a former co-worker. This can't be dragged up then if nothing is done, correct?

 

[quincy]

I don't know what to tell you. I suppose it could always become an issue again if this teacher wants to make it one.

If, however, you are known in the former school district and have worked there for several years, as you have, without incident (until this current ugly episode and one earlier semi-confrontation when she overheard your conversation with the principal), and if the entire situation has been discussed and basically dismissed by both the old and the new school administrations, and if you have the support of everyone but this one rather odd teacher, then I would say you shouldn't worry.

Having a complaint against this teacher on file with the old administration may be a good idea if anything arises in the future - you may want to check with an attorney on the necessity of that - but it might be wise to let it drop after that. With the new school year rapidly approaching, I imagine your new school and new administration would rather have your attention directed entirely toward your new job.

You can wait to see if anyone else on this forum decides to post with their suggestions or ideas, but I think it sounds like it all might just die out given a little more time.

 

[Quaere]

An overview of defamation law in Texas is found here:

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:et6VB7Fz_3YJ:www.mayfieldweedonlaw.com/article.jsp?practArea=20&articleIndex=2+texas+defamation+per+se&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

That site is written by an attorney and is not a 100% reliable source, but it gives the gist of the claim.

He went on to say that she told him that I pulled her into a closet and threatened her life if she didn't go out with me.

This is an allegation of criminal activity and if it is not true it is sufficient to support a claim of slander per se. The truth of the incident would obviously be your word against hers but if she never made a formal complaint about the incident to anyone, that tips the scale in your favor.

Did she tell your new boss WHEN this allegedly happened?

Your new employer can check out the allegation that there are law suits pending against you and if there are none, it will be good if they do check it out. In fact, you may want to search your own records and offer the “clean’’ search info to them.

As you said, you suffered damages the minute she made her call. You do not have to prove such damages because they are presumed. This caller identified herself and she is in the teaching profession...these are facts that support her credibility.

If I were your employer, I’d tell you not to worry about the phone call (you are entitled to be treated as innocent till proven guilty) but I’d be looking at you in a VERY new light. The phone call would overshadow any other impression I have of you for a long time.

IMO, any teacher that would let such allegations go unchallenged is crazy. Teachers are so vulnerable to false accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior, or violence they cannot afford to have a rumor of prior misconduct circulating. If you don’t deal with this woman, how long is it going to be before she extends this rumor to the Internet where she knows it will be seen by co-workers, students, or parents?

I would take the following actions ASAP:

1. Ask your employer (and any other witnesses) to write an affidavit recounting this woman’s EXACT statements about you. Any claim you have is dependant upon the testimony of an eyewitness to the defamation and there is no point in you considering any legal action unless your witness has given you a sworn statement. What a witness tells you informally and what that same witness will swear to later are often very different stories.

2. Unless this woman was acting in her capacity as an employee of her school, it is none of her employer’s business what she is doing on her own time. They have no right or responsibility to intervene. Depending on what you said to them, you may have opened yourself up to a counter suit. It would be a good idea to document the details of your communication with the woman’s employer.

3. Do not make a complaint to anyone other than your OWN employer and do NOT appear before any school board.

All the letter contains is an account of the afternoon and what the two phone calls I received said.

So the letter contains your hearsay version of something this woman did. You cannot state as fact that this woman said or did anything because YOU didn’t witness it. You should not endeavor to put the witness’s accounts into a statement for them.

4. If you actually obtain affidavits and your witnesses are willing to swear to the accounts you’ve give us here, come back and we can discuss possible litigation. However, until you have sworn testimony, you have no claim and are risking trouble with this woman by complaining about something you can’t prove she did.

Here is an interesting, recent case:

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/jilted-lover-ordered-to-pay-52000/n20070713120409990007