Suspended Teacher Awarded $301,548

A judge has awarded a Covina high school teacher more than $300,000 in damages because the Charter Oak Unified School District violated his rights by suspending him twice without pay.

Four years ago, science teacher Donald E. Mathias sued, alleging that district officials suspended him in 1987 and in 1988 because a student complained that he had told a class the Holocaust never happened and that man never landed on the moon.

District officials, however, maintained that Mathias was “temporarily removed” from the classroom because he did not have the proper credential to teach at the high school level.

In his ruling Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edward Y. Kakita found that Mathias, 65, was a tenured teacher with a valid credential and therefore was entitled to a hearing, or a legal reason for his dismissal.

The judge--saying that Mathias’ state and federal constitutional rights had been violated--awarded him $250,000 for emotional distress and $51,548 for special damages, including back pay and litigation costs.

School board President Ralph Bristol said board members will meet Tuesday to discuss the verdict. He was uncertain whether the board would appeal.

The district’s legal counsel, John Wagner, said he will recommend appealing.

Mathias, who has taught in the Covina area district for 23 years, has a standard junior college teaching credential. When he was first hired in 1968, he said, district officials knew what type of credential he had, because state law requires them to verify such licensing before hiring.

The error in Mathias’ case was found after the state cracked down on school districts to enforce proper credentialing, said Fay Mason, assistant superintendent of administrative services for the district.

“All it ever was and ever will be is a credential issue,” she said.

But Mathias said the licensing issue did not surface until after he had taught for 18 years at Charter Oak High School--and until after his principal had questioned him about the student’s complaints.

According to Mathias, the student misinterpreted his statements. He said that in response to another student’s question, he had told the class that Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich did not actually kill all the Jews in gas chambers, that some were shot, starved, or died from lack of medical care.

And, during another class session, the teacher acknowledged, he had told students that some scientists did not believe that man landed on the moon, but that the event was filmed in a movie studio.

Mathias said he himself does not hold those views.

In October, 1986, Mathias said he was informed that his credential was invalid and that the Los Angeles County Office of Education would not pay him until he had the proper licensing.

On Jan. 14, 1987, Mathias was suspended without pay and benefits. He was reinstated Feb. 17, 1987, after he took a state basic education skills test and obtained a one-year high school credential. When he failed to renew the credential, he was suspended again March 1, 1988. After obtaining a four-year credential, he resumed teaching in September, 1988.

“I was shocked,” Mathias said. “I didn’t believe that I had an invalid credential. I soon recognized that there was an ulterior motive.”

Mathias--represented by his son, Los Angeles attorney Richard J. Mathias--sued.

The teacher said his relationship with students has been shattered as a result of the incident. He said he no longer keeps his classroom door open throughout the day for students to come in and chat.

“It bothers me that I can’t be as free as I was before,” Mathias said. “I can’t teach like I used to. I’m not happy there. I stick close to the text, and I don’t give personal views.”