Teacher accused of anti-gay bullying sues the state
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at 11:04 am
- 6 Comments
An Anoka-Hennepin School District teacher who was accused of harassing a student he thought was gay is suing the state because the Department of Human Rights disclosed his name in a report about the investigation. Walter Filson filed suit against the state of Minnesota late last week. Filson was one of two teachers accused of harassing Alex Merritt, who is not gay. Merritt got a $25,000 settlement from the school district in 2009.
Filson’s suit comes after a similar one filed by Diane Cleveland, whom the Department of Human Rights claimed conspired with Filson to harass Merritt. Earlier this year Cleveland won her lawsuit against the state. A judge ruled that the department should not have disclosed her name because she was not a defendant or plaintiff in the complaint; the department did not actually lodge any penalty against Cleveland or Filson but simply reported the accusations and the department’s conclusions.
Filson and Cleveland have denied repeatedly that they harassed Merritt.
The complaint filed by Filson last week said, “The harm caused to (Filson’s) reputation and privacy interests are irreparable.”
The Anoka-Hennepin School District has been at the center of a culture war over anti-gay bullying, following a large number of suicides as well as allegations of an unsafe environment for students. Religious right groups are attempting to stave off any pro-LGBT policies in the district, while LGBT advocates are pressing for changes in school policy that would create a safer environment for LGBT students.
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Comment posted December 29, 2010 @ 1:06 pm
How is it that Filson and Cleveland haven’t been fired and blacklisted?
Comment posted January 1, 2011 @ 12:16 pm
Both of those teachers should have been fired and stripped of all of their credentials. Jail time might not be out of the question. They are a couple of bully’s who now are playing the victim card (typical of bullies) suing the state for disclosing their names. Both of these “teachers” should have their names shouted on the rooftops for their despicable and inexcusable bullying and harassment.
Comment posted January 1, 2011 @ 6:15 pm
After all of those suicides how can religious leaders press against some safety reform for all of those students. After all, at least one or two of these kids were not even homosexual and the favoured terms for young kids who come from those with poor parenting skills is derogatory of homosexuals. Therefore, protecting the lives and well-being of homosexual students is actually protecting straight kids as well because, according to all statistical sense, more heterosexual children get anti-gay bullying than homosexuals simply because heterosexual is more common and therefore more heterosexual kids are at risk. I live in Canada and these issues are dissappearing really fast but the US can eventually get to that point of freedom and safety as long as people use common sense. Regardless of homosexuality in the Bible, would Jesus want everyone bullying KIDS, during the hardest times of their lives, to the point of suicide? Anyone with the slightest sense of moral decency would agree here, regardless of religion. There needs to be protection for these students because all though this appears to be a homosexual issue, the fact is that it is not only affecting almost all homosexual students but even far more heterosexual students as well
Comment posted January 3, 2011 @ 9:08 am
Teachers are supposed to be teaching, not harassing students. The state credentials office should have taken these two assassins credentials and banned them from ever teaching in MN again.
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Comment posted February 1, 2011 @ 1:13 pm
I love it, I love it.
“The harm caused to (Filson’s) reputation and privacy interests are irreparable.”
Now everyone is going to know I am a homophobic bully, and this may prove to be harmful to my social and professional life! Noo!
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