The Lewis & Clark teaching student removed from his classroom by the Beaverton School District after he mentioned gay marriage to a fourth grader is will sue for discrimination if the teacher is not reinstated. Seth Stambaugh’s story, first reported in the Mercury, blew up into a national issue after he was banned from the district on September 15 for an “inappropriate” conversation in which a student asked about his marital status and Stambaugh responded that it would be illegal for him to get married, because he would choose to marry a man. A petition supporting Stambaugh on Change.org gathered 4,450 signatures, and Stambaugh’s lawyer, Lake Perriguey, has fielded calls from national newspapers and television programs. Although student teachers are not covered under the same legal protections as their full-time counterparts, Perriguey thinks Stambaugh’s case has merit because the school never had a policy forbidding teachers from discussing marital status, and straight teachers were never disciplined for noting their marital status. SARAH MIRK [This article has been edited, see comment below]
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Portland government’s largest labor group—the roughly 1,700-worker-strong District Council of Trade Unions—tentatively agreed to a new contract with the city last week. The deal, announced Wednesday, October 6, hands the city much of what it wanted: Caps on cost-of-living pay increases and certain overtime costs potentially worth millions. Union members, in turn, retained their benefits, added a holiday, and won new protections against the outsourcing of city work. Now, only two city unions remain without a contract: the Portland Police Association and the Portland Police Commanding Officers Association. DENIS C. THERIAULT
This is Lake Perriguey, Seth Stambaugh’s Lawyer.
To be clear, Mr. Stambaugh dose not currently intend to sue the Beaverton School District. Any intention that may have been conveyed was conditional, and dependent….vesting IF, AND ONLY IF, the Beaverton School District and he are unable to forge a comprehensive resolution to this crisis.
Mr. Stambaugh’s primary driving goal before, and since, his summary removal from that Beaverton classroom is to be an excellent teacher. He is proving to be teaching us lessons about community and inclusivity that reverberate beyond the classroom
As has been reported in The Mercury and elsewhere, Superintendent Colonna and Mr. Stambaugh agreed to meet in person for a conversation. We are hopeful that this conversation will lead to Mr. Stambaugh’s return to Sexton Mountain Elementary so that he may be continue to be a gifted educator.
Business as usual in Beaverton: http://www.teachingintheshadowoftheswoosh.blogspo…
AND http://www.statesponsoredtheft.blogspotocom
The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon)
January 10, 2005 Monday
BEAVERTON SCHOOL DISTRICT SETTLES RACIAL BIAS SUIT
ANITHA REDDY
Summary: In the $120,000 deal, the district admits a custodian was called a racial slur but denies other allegations
The Beaverton School District has agreed to pay $120,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit by an African American former custodian, after admitting in a court filing that a co-worker called the man a racial epithet.
District administrators agreed in December to pay nearly $80,000, including $10,000 in gross back wages, to James Sanders and $40,000 in fees to his lawyer, Thomas Steenson. As part of the settlement, the district denied Sanders’ allegations against three other co-workers.
The settlement, drawn from the district’s $1.55 million insurance reserve fund, did not require school board approval, said Linda Borquist, an assistant superintendent.
Board member Ann Jacks said Tuesday evening that district lawyers had briefed the board on the case but had never discussed possible settlement amounts.
“It’s not an insignificant sum or an insignificant issue,” Jacks said. “I’d like, in the future, to be a little more active in this.”
Board approval is necessary only if the settlement amount exhausts the reserve fund, which is set aside during the budget process and requires a transfer from the general fund, said Janice Essenberg, district administrator for budget services.
Because the district’s insurance policy covers liability claims greater than $500,000, board approval would be required only in rare cases involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. Large settlements can be entered into without board approval, unlike contracts, which require a board vote if they are worth more than $50,000.
In neighboring Portland, the school board must approve all settlements greater than $25,000.
Sanders, who was fired in October 2003, sued the district in June, saying his boss, Ron Strasser, Aloha High School’s head custodian, had used racially derogatory terms and threatened him. Sanders cited other instances of harassment, but did not name the co-workers involved or describe the offenses in his lawsuit.
Sanders met twice with Anthony Rosilez, then the district administrator overseeing custodians, and submitted two written complaints describing the harassment between November 2002 and August 2003, according to court filings by Sanders and the school district.
In a June 29 court filing, the district denied all of Sanders’ accusations except one. The district admitted that a co-worker called Sanders a “spear chucker” in August 2003. In the same filing, the district denied workers used other racially insensitive terms.
Borquist declined to identify the co-worker accused of using the term. She said the employee, who was disciplined for the incident, no longer works for the district.
The district initially responded to Sanders’ complaints by giving him the cell and home phone numbers of Rosilez so he could report any further harassment immediately, Borquist said.
The district also offered Sanders a place on its “Diversity Committee,” an employee group that supports and embraces a diverse work force, she said.
“We take any report of harassment or discrimination very seriously,” Borquist said.
At Sanders’ request, the district held a training session in January 2003 for custodial staff to review anti-discrimination policies and reporting procedures.
Sanders’ suit names as defendants Mark Moser, the district’s administrator for classified personnel, Art Heckel, a former Aloha High School vice principal, and Strasser, Sanders’ direct supervisor.
The district investigated Sanders’ allegations against the three men and found no wrongdoing, Borquist said.
Heckel, now a vice principal at Westview High School, and Moser still work for the district.
Strasser retired in September. District officials said his retirement was unrelated to the lawsuit.