A high school teacher in Brewer, Maine has filed a suit against her school department because of a “campaign of harassment” launched over her support of LGBTQ students.
Reports News Center Maine:
Michelle MacDonald, an English teacher at the school since 2007, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Bangor Monday claiming she was retaliated against and stripped of her department leadership role because she was a vocal advisor for the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance club. …
It comes after the Maine Human Rights Commission conducted a lengthy investigation into complaints and released its findings in July 2020 claiming MacDonald did in fact face “discrimination and retaliation” from the school department.
MHRC Investigator Jane O’Reilly wrote, “The record here indicates that the hostile conduct directed at Complainant related to her association with/advocacy for LGBTQ people was pervasive at least, if not severe, and that it was objectively and subjectively offensive.” …
MacDonald’s lawyers argued her colleagues, administrators, and others violated her civil rights, First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, and the Maine Human Rights Act.
They said in discussing LGBTQ+ issues with school leaders and fighting for more training for staff and presentations for students, she was met with resistance.
One instance detailed in the complaint alleged that there was “hostility directed towards transgender students” at the school, and staff used “deadnames” and incorrect pronouns.
MacDonald claimed she brought concerns to Superintendent Terri Towle in 2017 and Towle “stated it could not be true that students in younger grades had the right to go by their preferred gender because the students could ‘change their mind.'”
The complaint also detailed alleged issues with high school Principal Brent Slowikowski and push back the Gender and Sexuality Alliance faced, including not being included in the school yearbook as a recognized club.
When other staff members allegedly shut MacDonald out, it resulted in a “campaign” against her, according to court documents.
It resulted in a complaint filed with Slowikowski in June 2019, signed by 13 Brewer School Department employees.
“The complaint falsely alleged that MacDonald had created ‘hostile conditions’ and that the ‘environment’ was a direct result of the following actions by MacDonald,” MacDonald’s attorney argued.
Melissa Hewey, an attorney representing the Brewer School Department, vehemently denied any wrongdoing on the school’s part, depicting an employee a lengthy feud between MacDonald and others.
Read the complete News Center Maine story here.
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