Duval school board to pay $300K settlement in teacher’s BLM flag lawsuit

3 years ago 284

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duval County School Board has paid $300,000 to settee a suit brought against the schoolhouse territory by a erstwhile teacher who claims the territory retaliated against her and violated her close to escaped speech.

Details of the colony obtained by News4Jax amusement erstwhile Duval County Public Schools teacher Amy Donofrio volition person a $240,000 colony outgo and $60,000 to screen lawyer fees.

Earlier this period the schoolhouse committee voted successful favour of uncovering a colony agreement successful the civilian lawsuit brought against the territory by Donofrio and the Southern Poverty Law Center successful April.

“Given the facts of the case, adjacent though we cognize we haven’t done thing wrong, these are payer dollars and I conscionable can’t enactment paying those kinds of dollars implicit a 3 to 5 twelvemonth play connected a lawsuit we could settee tonight,” committee subordinate Warren Jones said anterior to the vote.

A schoolhouse territory lawyer said it could outgo the territory up to $2 cardinal if the lawsuit went to trial, which wouldn’t person happened until 2023.

Donofrio, who co-founded the nationally recognized EVAC Movement successful 2016, was reassigned to non-teaching duties 1 time aft Lee High School administrators removed a Black Lives Matter flag from her schoolroom doorway erstwhile she refused to region it connected their instructions. According to DCPS, the flag was a breach of territory policy, which bans teachers from advocating for societal causes.

Donofrio did not person a re-appointment to her antecedently assigned school, present named Riverside High School, this schoolhouse twelvemonth truthful her aboriginal with the territory is unclear.

As portion of the agreement, the schoolhouse committee volition not reason the disciplinary investigation, which was incomplete astatine the clip Donofrio’s employment with the schoolhouse committee expired without renewal.

News4Jax has requested details from Donofrio’s disciplinary probe and volition study the details erstwhile it becomes available.