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  1. #1
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    Feb 2010
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    Question Teacher Accused of Racism

    My question involves defamation in the state of: Ohio

    Hello, I'm looking for some feedback regarding some claims that have been made against my wife, who is a teacher in the state of Ohio. The claims have been made formally (with state education authorities, although we have not yet seen the verbiage) and informally (to at least one person in school administration and likely to other parents).

    The parents of a student have accused her of racism, citing what they perceive as unfair treatment of their child. At no time have they cited any actions or statements by my wife that are materially racist (e.g. use of racial language, treatment based on common stereotypes, etc...), they simply contend that their child has been treated differently from other children in the class and that the reason for this differing treatment is racism.

    An example of their claims (not an actual claim, but a fictional parallel): during a field trip, their child, who was wearing a t-shirt, was asked to retrieve his coat from the family's car. Another child who was wearing a sweater but not a coat was not asked to retrieve a coat from his car. The parents perceived this as unfair and attributed it to my wife's supposed racism (the second child was Caucasian).

    I'm not exaggerating the inanity of that statement by the way, it is an excellent parallel to the actual complaint.

    Assume for the moment that I'm telling the truth and that my wife is not, in fact, racist. Given the race in question, the idea is actually laughable, for reasons that I won't go into here. Regardless, I contend that a factual statement has been made (my wife is racist, and this racism manifests in bias against students of a certain race). It has been made verbally to at least two people (at least one school administrator and at least one state education official). It has likely been made verbally to other parents who have been asked to claim the same, as well as in writing to the state (I believe that both of those are true and provable, but I don't KNOW that for a fact yet). The complaint to the state has triggered an investigation into the school and possibly into my wife (again, I don't KNOW that they are investigating my wife particularly, yet, they are investigating at least the school) and has the potential to harm her professionally.

    Additionally, it is INFURIATING to both of us personally, and has made her for the first time consider quitting her profession. She is a dedicated teacher who works 70-80 hours every week for a pittance, and this sort of nonsense has no place in our lives. Forgive this last paragraph, but I'm angry

    Do we have a case? Is there anything wrong with writing a simple letter to the accusers stating that we welcome any evidence of actual wrongdoing on my wife's part, and that absent that we will be more than happy to pursue a defamation suit against the family?

    Thanks for any thoughts.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Teacher Accused of Racism

    Do NOT write to the family. Do NOT threaten them, or even loosely imply, that you will be happy to pursue a defamation suit. Do not even contact the family.

    Let the investigation run its course and then, if you still feel as if your wife has suffered enough reputational damage to support a defamation suit, by all means speak with an attorney.

    Be prepared to spend $30k (if cheap) and 3 years (if quick). And be prepared that you will never collect on whatever judgment may be obtained.

  3. #3
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    Feb 2010
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    Default Re: Teacher Accused of Racism

    Thanks for the reply. I'm curious, just for personal edification really, why the strong adverse reaction to personal contact. I appreciate the advice and the ground truth on the particulars. Any thoughts on small claims and the applicability of defamation per se?

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Teacher Accused of Racism

    Quote Quoting CherryWheat
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    Thanks for the reply. I'm curious, just for personal edification really, why the strong adverse reaction to personal contact. I appreciate the advice and the ground truth on the particulars. Any thoughts on small claims and the applicability of defamation per se?

    Small claims will not handle defamation cases as a rule. That, and you need to prove damages in this instance - per se defamation generally wouldn't apply in this case, hence you would need tangible damages.

    The reason I was so emphatic was that any contact may be perceived as a retaliative attempt at intimidation or threat - see where I'm going here?

    (whether or not you did or did not threaten or intimidate wouldn't be the point - it's the perception, in this situation, which is important).

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Teacher Accused of Racism

    Thanks again. I'm flying by the seat of my angrypants here with naught but an internet full of information whose applicability I am not qualified to judge, so I really do appreciate it.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Teacher Accused of Racism

    Quote Quoting CherryWheat
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    Thanks again. I'm flying by the seat of my angrypants here with naught but an internet full of information whose applicability I am not qualified to judge, so I really do appreciate it.

    I can absolutely understand your anger.


    But, we do have to consider the legalities

    (and I loved the use of "angrypants". That was excellent!)

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