Principal Awarded $500K in Claim Against School District
by
Joseph C. Maya on Apr. 17, 2017
Accident & Injury Accident & Injury Personal Injury Employment Employee Rights
Summary: Blog post about a school principal who was able to recover damages against the Bridgeport school district because of retaliation for her reporting of assaults on students by teachers.
If you have a question or concern about special education law, school administration, federal standards, or the overall rights of a student, please feel free to call the expert education law attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport today at (203) 221-3100.
In the case of Perez-Dizon v. Bridgport, a city and an assistant superintendent requested the court to articulate the basis for its reduction of damages awarded to the principal by a jury. The principal's action, alleging claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) arose from her transfer as principal from one elementary school to another, and her suspension. In order to prevail in a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, the principle must prove that: (1) that the school intended to inflict emotional distress, or that he knew or should have known that emotional distress was a likely result of his conduct, (2) that the conduct was extreme and outrageous, (3) that the school’s conduct was the cause of the student's distress, and (4) that the emotional distress sustained by the student was severe. Liability for intentional infliction of emotional distress requires conduct exceeding all bounds usually tolerated by decent society, of a nature that is especially calculated to cause, and does cause, mental distress of a very serious nature.
The principal alleged that due to assaults on minority students by Caucasian teachers at her school, she filed complaints with the Department of Children and Family Services. The principal claimed that in retaliation for such filings, she was transferred to a smaller school that paid less without cause or connection to her work performance. She also claimed that she was suspended from her job based on a charge of sexual abuse of a student, which was later determined to be unsubstantiated. She filed multiple claims against the city and others. The jury found that the city had engaged in retaliation, discrimination, and IIED, and the principal was awarded economic, non-economic, and punitive damages. The city's post-trial motions were denied except as to remittitur, a courts reduction of damages awarded by a jury, in part. In explanation of the basis for the reduction of the damage awards, the court noted that it disallowed the punitive damages except as to attorneys fees on the IIED claim. It also reduced a duplicative amount awarded for the suspension. However, it allowed another non-economic damage award to stand where it was attributed to the principal's emotional distress from the IIED and not from the retaliatory transfer.
The court provided an articulation of the basis for its reduction of damages awarded to the principal. Nevertheless, the court allowed the initial verdict of $500,000 in favor of the principal to stand.
If you have a child with a disability and have questions about special education law, please contact Joseph C. Maya, Esq., at 203-221-3100, or at JMaya@mayalaw.com, to schedule a free consultation.
Source: Perez-Dixon v. City of Bridgeport, 2009 Conn. Super. LEXIS 3147, 2009 WL 4916389 (Conn. Super. Ct. Nov. 24, 2009)
