Sunday, February 25, 2018

Will The DOE Protect "F" Status Field Supervisors From ATR Lawsuits? Maybe Or Maybe Not.



























It has come to my attention that a teacher, who became an ATR, filed a lawsuit against the Principal and the Principal's Advisor.  Of course the Principal was protected as a DOE employee from personal liability.  However, the DOE appointed advisor was not an active employee but was defined as a consultant.  The result was the Principal's advisor was not protected by the DOE from liability.  The result was the consultant had to hire his own lawyer on his own dime.  Moreover, he ended up paying the teacher $25,000 and his own lawyer as well..

This brings me to the field supervisors (assassins).  Most of the field supervisors are retired Principals or Assistant principals.  The are hired on an "F" status basis and are considered contract employees.  Therefore, its possible that if the ATR, who feels they were unjustly evaluated by one of these "F" status field supervisors, if the ATR files a lawsuit its possible that the "F" status field supervisor would not be protected from liability by the DOE.  If that is the case, then the "F" status field supervisor would have to hire their own lawyer.

I cannot say for sure that is the case, but based on the Bronx case it might be worth the effort to sue the "F" status field supervisor and see if the DOE decides to protect them.  Ir the DOE does not protect them from liability, the result would be the eventual elimination of the "F" status field supervisors since the money they receive is not worth the risk of a lawsuit.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Justin Stark deserves to lose h8s license.

Chaz said...

Justin Stark Is now an AP and is protected by the DOE as an active employee. He was never an "F" status field supervisor.

Former Teacher said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

In the nyshitty doe a teacher needs to jump through this many hoops to try to right a wrong! Another reason the nycdoe cannot attract the best and brightest.

Anonymous said...

Any ATR that’s being harassed should sue the ATR hit squad. The DOE isn’t going to bat for a part time lackeys.

Former Teacher said...

The F status employee was considered not a employee of the DOE. Now what does this mean for per diem teachers, and long term subs? These three categories are all lumped together when discussing pay structure and benefits. I called the NYC conflict of interest board last year and spoke to their attorney and he said a person has to to work 40 days during the academic year be considered an employee of the DOE. Now has that changed? If this is the new ruling, then this would definitely have consequences for conflict of interest issues. You can not work for a private agency who does business with the NYCDOE if you were an employee of the DOE unless you wait one year from the last date of employment. You can not work in any capacity until the year has passed. These agencies interpret substitute teaching as being an employee of the DOE (which I have my own ideas about because you incur nothing except a paycheck as a sub so that really does not make you an employee like everyone else at the DOE) and will not hire you unless you wait the year. So please cite this case so we can get clarity on this matter. If you have any thought, please let us know.

Anonymous said...

Chaz, was this an out-of-court settlement, judicial decision, or jury verdict?

If a judicial decision, can you provide a link?

Here's an interesting judicial decision involving a teacher who sued a principal for libel:

www.leagle.com/decision/197552982misc2d4471406

Anonymous said...

So the principal and other doe employees are protected under the doctrine of absolute immunity if they are acting within the scope of their official duty.
In order to overcome that privilege malice must be shown.
And in thus case it said that they did have evidence of malice.
Wow this case goes back to 1975. Is it that rare to sue the administrator?

Anonymous said...

Former Teacher- you're right, you do get a paycheck, but you also accrue "city time". So if you get another city job, you can use those sub days (after you buy them back) towards your retirement. It may not be much, but it's something.

Anonymous said...

To Anon 1:34 PM

No, in the McAulay case, the principal was not entitled to absolute immunity (a.k.a. "absolute privilege").

The principal was entitled to qualified privilege.

To overcome qualified privilege, malice must be shown.

It's not all that rare for NYC teachers to sue school administrators.

Some of these judicial decisions are quite interesting:

www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=principal+teacher+libel+"New+York"&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=leagle.com&as_occt=any&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=

Anonymous said...

can you resign, and sub and buy back the time before retirement?

Anonymous said...

Diane Ludvigsen, retired NYCDOE administrator and hired hand.....this ones for you bitch!

Thanks Chaz...very good.

Chaz said...

Anon 3"36

Yers. Subbing counts toward pension credits.

Anonymous said...

after resigning is what i need clarification.
can i resign at 20 years- sub 15 till 55 and buy back to get my 30/55 without penalty?

Anonymous said...

Word is the Single Shephard program is filled with lies and false data entry. For those not "inflating and lying" repercussions, such as, U-ratings are being given. These students have attendance issues. The word is out that ATRs are filing a class aciton lawsuit. It should not only be for ATRs. Age discrimination and being treated differently is rampid. Those that 'qualify' should join in.

Chaz said...

Subbing is part time and even 15 years won't get you 10 years credit. Furthermore, the 30/55 is for full time members.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Anon 5:21. The age discrimination lawsuit shouldn't be only for ATTs. There's lots if us who are being age discriminated and we're not ATRs.
I want to join the lawsuit too.

Anonymous said...

Sue everyone. Everyone should just sue everyone. Let's see what happens.

Anonymous said...

Higher ups are well aware of the ATR lawsuit from the rumblings surfacing. The union and DOE are getting a double punch to the dome with Janus and the ATR class action. Regular appointed teachers should file a class action discrimination suit as well. So the DOE also receives a punch to the gut.

Anonymous said...

@6:36PM - Check out the February 17, 2018 entry in this blog. Contact the lawyer BEFORE 2/28/2018 and ask to join. If not, perhaps there could be another class action for those that are not ATRs. Rise for labor rights.

@7:23PM - You're just a lawsuit happy!

Anonymous said...

The abuse and harassment of ATRs by Field Supervisors should be part of the lawsuit.

Anonymous said...

Age discrimination is alive and well for a New York City teacher. Has anyone ever gotten highly effective on an ob if you”re 50 and over? How many teachers 50 and over even get effective on obs? For 50 and over teachers, Developing is the “new effective”. For example: I went for a pension consult and 4 other teachers were waiting for their consults. I asked them if they wouldn’t mind sharing their ob results with me. They said to me let’s not waste time on it because they had 20 years and their careers were ended from their obs/ ratings.
* To Answer Per diem sub time. You need blocks of 85 days equals a term to to gain sub time. In a month like March and other months with hardly or no days off, you can be rest assured that you will be working every day.

that you will be called everyday.

Anonymous said...

Who dreads going back to school tomorrow, please raise your hand?

Former Teacher said...

https://www.nystrs.org/NYSTRS/media/PDF/Library/Publications/Active%20Members/YouDeserveTheCredit.pdf

This is the table for gaining credit in the pension system with subbing. This is different than gaining credit for salary step credit.

Anonymous said...

Dwarka continues to go after experienced teachers, her statistics show how she ran the school to the ground.

Anonymous said...

What was the lawsuit?

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately you can’t sue the UFT. My AP best friend tried after Hinds publicly insulted him. He spent 10 grand.

Anonymous said...

Field Supervisors are harassing ATRs, and the Union is looking the other way.

Anonymous said...

Diane Ludvigsen is a stupid piece of her garbage and that doesn’t even take into account her 80s frosted Dallas style hair and hideous wardrobe

Anonymous said...

The Union is to be blamed on the discrimination going on on experienced teachers.

Anonymous said...

Diane Ludvigsen makes Justin Stark look like a rocket scientist.

Anonymous said...

The Union has allowed for this harassment of ATRs but many lawsuits will follow.