Teacher Sues DOE Over Harassment By Students; Alleges Principal Failed to Act
By DAVID SIMS
A Teacher at the School for Legal Studies in Williamsburg has filed a discrimination charge against the Department of Education alleging that she was repeatedly sexually harassed at her school by students and that the school's Principal did little to address her complaints.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James A CASE STUDY FOR LEGAL CAREERS SCHOOL: The School for Legal Studies, which prepares students for careers in law-related fields, is a battleground for a lawsuit by one of its Teachers claiming that her Principal did little to respond to her charges of frequent, sexually-tinged harassment by students.

She also noted that the DOE has nothing in its regulations that addresses student harassment of Teachers, not considering it an equal employment opportunity issue, and her union's contract doesn't cover it, either.

Started Early in Tenure

Theresa Reel, who has been a Teacher for 10 years, six of them in Mississippi before moving to New York, has taught at the School for Legal Studies since September 2005. She says that harassment began shortly after she arrived at the school, with students frequently directing profanity and sexual slang at Ms. Reel, sometimes even violent threats. She also charged that some of the students would approach her in the hallways and taunt her, with one rubbing up against her in the hallway on more than one occasion.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James FAULTS DOE FOR INACTION: Joshua S.C. Parkhurst, an attorney for Theresa Reel, has accused the Department of Education of violating Federal, state and local laws barring discrimination because it has failed to protect her from harassment by students at the School for Legal Studies.

"Every time an incident happened, I would write up a referral because I thought that was the proper thing to do," said Ms. Reel said during an Aug. 6 interview in her attorneys' midtown offices. She would usually submit a Student Referral Form to a Dean, but almost all referrals resulted in little action.

Responses were "very seldom," said Ms. Reel. "Sometimes it would be, 'spoke to student.''' Another time, a Dean told Ms. Reel that he had escorted a student off the premises, and when Ms. Reel replied she had seen that student roaming the halls minutes ago, the Dean shrugged in response. Deans would sometimes "roll their eyes" when Ms. Reel handed in a referral form, she recalled.

The school's Principal, Denise Morgan, who has held her position for four years, was allegedly equally indifferent to Ms. Reel's complaints. At one point, after Ms. Reel sent a student out of the classroom for repeatedly swearing and harassing her, Ms. Morgan objected, telling Ms. Reel that "we do not send students out of the room for talking." When Ms. Reel told Ms. Morgan that the student had been directing sexual remarks at her, Ms. Morgan's response was, "and how does that threaten you?"

'Afraid It Would Spread'

"I felt threatened in a way that if one student threatened me like that, it would spread, and now I'm being assaulted with verbal abuse in the classroom," Ms. Reel said. "I was really afraid that that would get out of hand." Her complaints mostly fell on deaf ears, she said, with the Principal eventually unwilling to believe them unless Ms. Reel was backed up by another witness.

"I kind of feel that if I were a Principal, if I were to pick up a phone and call the Chancellor's Office, that maybe they would turn around and try to blame me," she speculated. '''Oh, this is happening in your school. Why is this happening in your school? Why is your school out of control, why is this going on in your school?' Instead of giving her the help ... it would be all about blame."

But the Chancellor's Office, and the DOE at large, also offered no support to Ms. Reel despite the stress she experienced, which the lawsuit says caused her to become repeatedly ill. The DOE's Office of Equal Opportunity responded to a complaint filed by Ms. Reel about the school's lack of procedures to help, she said, by stating that "they did not address cases of student sexual harassment of faculty, and did not consider the matter to be within their jurisdiction."

DOE's Rejoinder

When she later contacted the DOE through her attorneys, Office of Legal Services Senior Counsel Lisa M. Becker responded by criticizing Ms. Reel for wearing "inappropriate attire," specifically "a low-cut, V-neck, lace top."

Ms. Reel denies ever wearing such an outfit to school. "Since the DOE doesn't see me on a daily basis, since no one at the Chancellor's Office has met with me, I would think it would have to be the Principal [who made that claim]," she said. "But the Principal has never called me into the office and said 'Ms. Reel, I have concerns about what you've been wearing.'''

Ms. Reel's union, the United Federation of Teachers, has "a big gap that no one's noticed is missing" in its contract when it comes to student harassment, Ms. Reel said. She contacted UFT President Randi Weingarten via e-mail about the issue, who was "appalled, as I was appalled," and directed her to call someone at the union. "The first thing they asked me was if I have tenure, and I didn't [at that point], and basically they said, "if you don't have tenure, you need to be careful," said Ms. Reel. '''Just don't say anything until you have tenure.'''

Ms. Reel was granted tenure last September (she taught one year at the School for Public Safety and Law in East New York before moving to the School for Legal Studies) and then decided to pursue her case more vigorously, opting for private representation from Cary Kane LLP. "I decided once I got tenure, this would be the fight I would fight," stated Ms. Reel.

'Need Enforceable Protection'

She said her goal was to make "the DOE to come up with an immediate, effective and enforceable policy to protect Teachers," preferably one that is enforced "outside of the building" where one reports to "someone other than the Principal," because she feels "then the Principal wouldn't be tempted to sweep things under the rug, to hide them."

One of her attorneys, Larry Cary, added that "[for the DOE] to suggest that she has 'brought it upon herself' is to overlook their responsibilities as the employers. They're obligated under the law to provide a workplace that's free of sexual harassment. They haven't done it." Ms. Reel will also be able to seek all other remedies that are allowed under the law in her lawsuit.

Despite the lawsuit, Ms. Reel says she is looking forward to returning to school in September. "I really enjoy teaching at that school, I like the courses I teach, I like most of the adults there, and most of the kids," she said. "They know me now, I've been there for three years. They get upset when Teachers come and go. They like to have continuity in their lives."

When asked about the School for Legal Studies, which focuses on preparing minority children for possible careers in law-enforcement, court reporting, and other legal-based careers, Ms. Reel said "I love the mission. I love getting the kids to know what their rights are, their constitutional rights, I love that."

"Plus," she added, "just because ... I leave one school, it could happen in another school. It could happen in any school that I go to."