Confidential
Settlement – $75,000Court
Riverside Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Jeffrey P. Thompson
(DeClues, Burkett & Thompson APC)
Facts
Deane Johnson, a psychologist working for the Temecula Valley Unified School District, had prevailed in a complaint to the state Department of Education that the district had overloaded her with work to the point that she could not adequately develop individualized education programs for students with special needs. The district was instructed to increase Johnson's workload and audit its special education services. Shortly after the Department of Education's investigation concluded, Johnson asked to attend a half-day neuropsychology conference. After assistant superintendent Richard Glock refused her request and she continued to press for permission, Glock sent an e-mail dated April 1, 2002, to Johnson and seven other district officials. Glock contended in the e-mail that he had reached the conclusion that Johnson had been negligent in assessing a brain-damaged student's needs in the late 1990s. Although an administrative law judge had ordered the district to pay $130,000 to the child's family for its mishandling of the student's needs, the judge hadn't blamed any specific employee.
Damages
Johnson claimed that the statement had injured her professional reputation.
Other Information
As part of the settlement, Glock stated in court: "With the information I now have, I do not believe Deanne Johnson was negligent in the handling of the TBI student referred to in my e-mail of April 1, 2002."
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