Top News Stories
Chapter leader sues ‘tyrant’ principal
Aug 7, 2008 12:17 PM
Kimani Brown (left) with UFT District 16 Representative Ronald Mailman (center) and Co-Staff Director LeRoy Barr at a May 27 rally of staff, parents and students in support of Brown.
The battle for justice at MS 393 in Bedford Stuyvesant shifted to a new front when a chapter leader — at the urging of the UFT — filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court on July 3 against Marian Bowden, the school’s principal, and the Department of Education.
The suit alleges that by removing Kimani Brown to a temporary reassignment center as retaliation for his allegation that school funds may have been misused, Bowden violated the whistle-blower protection provision of state education law.
The legal action further alleges that Bowden made false and defamatory statements against Brown to his students, colleagues and at least one parent. A jury trial was requested.
“This is a clear case of a principal retaliating against an educator who had the nerve to stand up for his students,” UFT President Randi Weingarten said. “This principal needs to understand her role should be that of a leader, not a bully or tyrant.”
Bowden relieved Brown of his duties as an academic intervention services teacher after he sought to have her follow the contract and use “extended time,” as required, for small-group tutoring to provide extra help to lagging students, rather than for regular classes.
The principal lost a grievance on the matter just one year ago.
Brown further incurred the principal’s wrath by noting that the ratio of general education students to special education students in the 6th-grade collaborative team teaching class was out of compliance with DOE policy, which is based on federal law. He urged teachers to file complaints through the UFT, which provided support to the teachers and pursued every available recourse, including meeting with Bowden in a fruitless effort to remedy these and other matters amicably.
Her response was to change Brown’s schedule in mid-semester in a manner that effectively precluded him from being able to further perform his individualized education program teacher responsibilities.
Bowden often clashed with staff over budget, safety and contractual issues.
In mid-year she canceled all per-session activities and advised staff that they could volunteer to continue to perform them for free. This was reversed a month later. Although the principal knew that Brown was coaching basketball as an authorized per-session activity, she tried to eliminate his compensation for it.
When he was removed, Brown had started raising questions about whether Bowden was misusing school funds. Brown noticed that the principal was selectively and seemingly improperly paying per-session wages to some individuals for administrative work, while simultaneously precluding other teachers from participating in proper per-session employment.
After repeatedly being rebuffed by Bowden in his attempts to confer with her, Brown contacted the DOE’s Office of Special Investigation about the spending irregularities. Then, on May 21, Bowden dispatched Brown to the temporary reassignment center on Chapel Street and, for the duration of the term, assaulted his personal and professional reputation.
Two large demonstrations by Brown’s colleagues and parents were held on the steps of the school on May 27 and again on June 10.
As set forth in the lawsuit, Bowden made several verifiably slanderous statements about Brown. She is said to have told a student that Brown was removed because he “messed up,” and she further accused him of having committed “grand theft” and “grabbing” at Bowden.
The lawsuit seeks general and punitive damages as well as an order declaring that Bowden had, in fact, retaliated against Brown by initiating disciplinary proceedings against him in violation of state law.
It demands that Brown be returned to MS 393 and have his prior duties restored, that Bowden be restrained from taking any other adverse action against him and that Bowden and the DOE expunge any record of the allegations, reassignment and “any other resultant disciplinary charges” from his file.
The calendar says it’s vacation time, but Kimani Brown cannot separate himself from the unresolved drama of the school year. “My greatest wish,” he said, “is to be back with my kids in the classroom doing the work I love.”
