Teacher and Capistrano Schools Settle Sexual Harassment Suit

LOS ANGELES — An Orange County teacher who alleged that he was harassed and demoted for spurning the homosexual advances of a school district official has agreed to settle a $15-million federal court suit on the day it was scheduled to go to trial.

The settlement, made public Wednesday, calls for William Bartman, 41, to quit his job immediately with the Capistrano Unified School District and accept a $45,000 settlement.

“I’m relieved that it finally did get to court,” Bartman said. “I think that it should send a clear message to school districts to indicate that they can’t just treat teachers like a piece of furniture and move them wherever they like.”

He also vowed to continue teaching, adding, “I have four credentials in special education.” Bartman said handicapped children were the ones who suffered the most while he was removed from his classroom position for 2 1/2 years.

“I will be writing a book about this whole thing,” said Bartman, who said he is living on savings and sales of his watercolor paintings in local galleries.

Bartman, who lives in San Juan Capistrano, joined the district in 1979 as a special education teacher. In September, 1983, he was removed from the classroom at Dana Hills High School and assigned to writing brochures and doing clerical work in the district office.

He was later assigned to work as a teacher’s aide and spent the past school year teaching in Palisades Elementary School in Capistrano Beach, according to William Volk, a San Diego attorney representing the Capistrano school district.

In his federal lawsuit, Bartman alleged that he was harassed after rejecting the sexual advances of then-assistant superintendent George Dibs. At the time, school officials declined to discuss their reasons for reassigning Bartman. In subsequent court documents, the district denied any wrong-doing or impropriety.

Dibs, now superintendent of the Ontario-Montclair School District, did not return telephone calls from The Times.

Dr. Jerome Thornsley, Capistrano Unified’s superintendent, said he could not comment on the details of the settlement, other than to confirm that a settlement had been reached.

According to the settlement documents, the statements that “appear to be of a homosexual nature” were “misunderstood by the other party” and would be completely retracted by Bartman. And, Bartman’s personnel file will be sealed by the district.

The agreement, reached on Tuesday, requires Bartman to drop an Orange County Superior Court suit incorporating the same allegations as the federal suit.

Bartman and Dibs also agreed to retract the derogatory statements they had made about each other.

Capistrano Unified will contribute $10,000 toward Bartman’s settlement, with its insurance company paying the remaining $35,000, according to the settlement agreement.