Fired Washtenaw Intermediate School District teacher's aide files federal lawsuit
A fired teacher’s aide for the Washtenaw Intermediate School District has filed a federal lawsuit against the district, alleging violations of his civil rights.
Michael Beasley was dismissed from his job as a teacher’s aide in a special education classroom at Scarlett Middle School during the 2008-09 school year after he was criminally charged with child abuse.
Michael Beasley
In the lawsuit, filed earlier this week, Beasley alleges his supervising teacher made “frequent, unsolicited and unwelcome comments and questions to (Beasley) regarding her sex life, plaintiff’s sex life and sexual acts.” The lawsuit said he made complaints about her to his supervisors but was ignored.
The suit also claims Beasley’s supervising teacher “made derogatory comments regarding Indians in plaintiff’s presence. When she made these comments, the classroom supervisor was aware that plaintiff is an Indian.” The lawsuit claims he made complaints to his supervisors but was ignored.
Beasley claims after his classroom supervisor heard about the complaints, he faced retribution.
“Plaintiff’s classroom supervisor falsely accused plaintiff of assaulting a student. Plaintiff’s classroom supervisor encouraged another employee under her classroom supervisor to falsely accuse plaintiff of assaulting a student.
“Plaintiff timely filed a charge of race discrimination, sex discrimination and retaliation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and brings this action within 90 days of receiving his notice of right to sue.”
WISD spokeswoman Gerri Allen said the WISD had not seen the case and declined to comment on it.
Beasley is still facing criminal charges from the incident. Court records show a jury trial is set for Sept. 20.
David Jesse covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com.
Comments
Urban Sombrero
Sat, Jun 5, 2010 : 8:35 a.m.
Michael Beasley is one of the sweetest, kindest men I've ever met and I totally believe that the allegations made against him are nothing but garbage made out of spite and vindictiveness. Mike, there are a ton of us in your corner who support you and are wishing you the best.
greymom
Thu, Jun 3, 2010 : 8:57 a.m.
Please keep in mind this teacher was here one year and left WISD, now she is claiming she took a job with a pay cut in a different District because of lack of support from WISD, but lets look at who was removed from the classroom, the one falsely accused of abuse!!! She too is going after WISD. There is a much bigger picture then folks know!!! I feel sad for the families involved because they were told false information from the teacher they entrusted with the special care each of these kids needed!
greymom
Thu, Jun 3, 2010 : 8:44 a.m.
I will not go into details but I was a witness to one of the claims of abuse and I can honestly say it never happened!!! Once Michael was removed from the school the class became very disruptive and out of control. I too got some of the same treatment as Michael did, so know he has grounds!! Michael if you need me I am here for ya!! I have nothing to gain or lose here so don't thnk I am taking his side, I am taking the side of truth!!
alarictoo
Fri, May 28, 2010 : 9:20 a.m.
@krc: You should go back and check the previous stories regarding this case on A2.com. The students in question, whom Beasley allegedly abused, were special ed students with limited ability to communicate; hence limited ability to communicate/complain about being abused. I want to know where he found a lawyer who still uses the term "indian" instead of "Native American"...
InsideTheHall
Fri, May 28, 2010 : 9:16 a.m.
Is Feiger reprsenting Beasley????????? Looks like a money grab all the way. He knows he will never return to the classroom and is lawyering up to fleece the school district.
krc
Fri, May 28, 2010 : 9:03 a.m.
1.I hope Beasley has proof of all his allegations. He's going need it because the school district will stand behind the teacher and the supervisor(s). Did he keep a written log? Are there tapes? 2.And on the other side, is there proof of the child abuse? Or is it a case of a recalcitrant student wanting to cause trouble for him? 3. Is this teacher new or a long-termer? Tenured? Tired? Just going through the motions until he/she can collect retirement?
ShadowManager
Fri, May 28, 2010 : 8:59 a.m.
This is a "Somebody Supervises Somebody Who Done Somebody Wrong Song".
Rod Johnson
Fri, May 28, 2010 : 8:23 a.m.
This is a confusingly written article, mostly because of the extensive use of quotes. Why not say "Beasley alleges that his classroom supervisor made comments about..." Is the classroom supervisor the same as the supervising teacher but different from "his supervisors"? And I don't know where to begin with "Plaintiffs classroom supervisor encouraged another employee under HER classroom supervisor..." The classroom supervisor's classroom supervisor?
L'chaim
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 9:13 p.m.
(continuing the characterization of belboz's comments)... or "casting aspersions;" "perpetuating myths or misconceptions." Terminating teachers (and many others in the education system) is often "heard of." But it's a less frequent event than someone saying that "it's never heard of" which happens all the time. They may have checked the facts. Beasley seems to believe they didn't, or did so very selectively, I guess. Is that heard of? Let's ask Mumia Abu Jamal or Hurricane Carter or Leonard Peltier. My obvious point: of course it happens. Bad idea (and bad form) to assume (to "guess") that either side in a hot controversial issue "had excellent cause" (whatever that means, exactly) or did anything in particular.
bs
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 2:15 p.m.
"But, that is just me jumping to conclusions, as most posters do." actually, I would characterize that as making a post that just doesn't make sense..more than just "jumping to conclusions" since you brought it up. He's not being "charged" by WISD, they aren't a court of law. And, people ARE terminated from employment in educational settings.
belboz
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 2:01 p.m.
Looks like a "you drop the charges, i'll drop my suit" strategy. It is almost never heard of and very difficult to fire anyone in the education system. So, I'm guessing they had excellent cause and double checked the facts. But, that is just me jumping to conclusions, as most posters do.