HOUSTON -- Two teachers have filed a civil suit against HISD Superintendent Terry Grier as the Houston Independent School Board prepares to vote on the fate of 10 employees from beleaguered Key Middle School.
This latest development comes after school officials say an HISD investigation found evidence of theft and TAKS cheating on the campus.
A third teacher is expected to join the civil suit this week.
The teachers alleged Grier orchestrated their harassment after the teachers refused to lie about their principal Mabel Caleb, the focus of the investigation.
These people are purely collateral damage on this investigation, said Houston Federation of Teachers President Gayle Fallon.
Among Caleb s subordinates were teachers Jackie Anderson and Patrick Cockerham, who filed the civil suit. It alleges their refusal to agree with falsehoods regarding Caleb resulted in harassment.
No matter what I said to them, it wasn't going to be the truth. It was not what they wanted to hear, Cockerham said during a January press conference on the investigation.
The teachers insisted they did not participate in cheating on the TAKS tests. The suit also maintained investigators tried to intimidate them to assist Grier in hurting Caleb.
Fallon attended some of those interviews. She said that elements in HISD's final report were contrary to the teacher's actual statements.
It's that tape recorder that I had in my pocket that we made transcripts of that I think will prove the case, she said.
Grier has not commented on the lawsuit, saying he has not seen the lawsuit. In a formal statement in January, though, he was firm.
The evidence that we have in hand is pretty hard-hitting, pretty compelling, he said at that time.
The teachers contended they've been hard hit. The suit claims that Grier has been retaliating against them ... and creating unfair prejudice against them.
Now they are fighting for their jobs. Fallon explained that the civil suit was the blocking technique.
The teachers are asking for court costs and a declaratory judgment from a judge saying Grier violated the teachers' rights.
