A Maryland highschool trainer is taking authorized motion, claiming he was accused of being a racist after a classroom dispute over seating assignments was mishandled by the varsity administration.
Dan Engler, a former well being and English trainer and head coach of the rowing workforce at Bethesda-Chevy Chase Excessive College (B-CC) in Montgomery County, filed a lawsuit in opposition to Principal Shelton L. Mooney and the Montgomery County Public College Board, accusing them of defamation and violating college coverage of their dealing with of a February 2023 classroom incident.
In response to the grievance, two college students in Engler’s first-period well being class requested to take a seat subsequent to their mates as an alternative of of their assigned seats.
Engler, citing the significance of utilizing a seating chart to be taught pupil names and keep away from confusion, requested the scholars — who’re Black — to return to their assigned seats. The scholars refused and remained the place they had been.
Later that day, the scholars reported the interplay to the assistant principal, alleging Engler informed them he wouldn’t be capable to inform them aside from different college students, believing this to be a racial remark.
“Part of the misunderstanding may have stemmed from an incident in Engler’s English class the previous spring,” his legal professional wrote within the opposition to the defendants’ movement for abstract judgment.
The submitting defined that Engler had learn a quote from Muhammad Ali containing a racial slur, which offended some college students. Engler apologized, and an investigation decided it was not a “hate bias incident.” The scholars concerned within the well being class had reportedly heard in regards to the English class incident and had beforehand requested to not be positioned in Engler’s class, believing him to be racist.
Following the scholars’ report, Principal Mooney was instructed by his superiors to comply with the “hate bias incident” protocol. The following day, he knowledgeable Engler that he can be positioned on paid administrative depart for at some point whereas the incident was underneath investigation.
Two days after the incident, Mooney despatched a community-wide e-mail to oldsters, academics, employees and college students reporting {that a} “hate bias incident” had occurred on the college.
The message stated that “several African American students” had been informed by a trainer that he was “unable to distinguish them from other African American students” within the classroom and that the Montgomery County Police Division had been notified as an inside investigation was ongoing.
“Let me be clear, discrimination of any kind must not be tolerated,” Mooney wrote earlier than citing the varsity coverage in opposition to “insensitivity, disrespect, bias, verbal abuse, harassment, bullying, physical violence or illegal discrimination toward any person.”
Though Engler was not named within the e-mail, he stated he was rapidly recognized by college students, dad and mom and colleagues. He maintains that he didn’t make the assertion attributed to him within the letter and he “did not do anything that could reasonably be classified as a ‘hate bias incident.’”
The grievance alleges that Engler had his “reputation destroyed by the malicious acts of B-CC’s Principal, Defendant Shelton L. Mooney, who falsely accused Engler of racism in a thoughtless, half-baked community-wide email.”
The lawsuit additional claims that Mooney and the varsity board violated MCPS insurance policies and procedures by sending the community-wide e-mail earlier than an investigation was accomplished and that they refused to concern a retraction or apology.
When Engler returned to work the next week, Mooney allegedly “refused to discuss the matter” with Engler. Upon returning to his classroom, Engler stated he was “upset” to seek out MCPS and B-CC employees holding a “restorative justice” circle in his classroom that they excluded him from becoming a member of.
Engler informed Fox Information Digital that the expertise took a heavy toll on his psychological well being. The identical day, he went on incapacity depart for a 12 months and a half earlier than resuming educating at one other college within the district.
“I love teaching. I love coaching,” he stated. “And I really care a great deal about the relationships I have with those kids and helping them learn how to become adults in the best way possible. To lose the confidence of the kids, the trust of the kids, based on what the kids’ leadership had to say about me, was devastating. It was identity stealing.”
In response to the grievance, Engler in the end confronted no disciplinary motion and the defendants’ investigation allegedly failed to seek out ample proof that the classroom incident constituted a “hate bias incident.”
“However, the damage to Engler had already been done. Mooney’s malicious email falsely branded Engler a racist, destroying his reputation in the B-CC community, causing him deep emotional distress, making it impossible to continue teaching at B-CC, and causing the loss of his position as Head Coach of the B-CC Rowing Team,” it continued.
Engler criticized the varsity’s dealing with of the incident as “a tremendous opportunity for virtue signaling.”
“It really was, and I’m paying the price,” he informed Fox Information Digital. Engler stated his popularity has been broken, and the authorized battle has price his household over $300,000.
After trying to resolve the dispute by way of administrative proceedings, Engler filed a lawsuit in Montgomery County Circuit Court docket in August 2023.
Engler’s case proceeded to trial on Monday.
Fox Information Digital reached out a number of occasions to the attorneys for the defendants on the allegations and didn’t obtain a response. The MCPS Board of Schooling stated it was unable to touch upon pending litigation. Mooney didn’t return a request for remark.
