District Eager to Settle Teacher’s Civil Rights Case

Capistrano Unified School District officials said Friday that they are close to settling a civil rights case in which an administrative judge ruled that school officials repeatedly discriminated against a veteran teacher.

Under the ruling by John F. Cook, an administrative law judge for the U.S. Department of Education, the district could forfeit $1.5 million in federal funding if it does not compensate Ruth Geis, an English teacher at San Clemente High School, and implement a districtwide policy to outlaw similar discrimination against other teachers.

Geis has charged that the district retaliated against her after she filed an age and sex discrimination complaint in 1981. Geis charged that school officials took steps to punish her for her legal challenges, including taking away extracurricular stipends.

Cook concluded that district administrators had violated Geis’ civil rights. Several district officials who were the targets of the discrimination charges, including former Supt. Jerome Thornsley, have since left Capistrano Unified and have steadfastly denied any retaliatory actions against Geis.

But members of the current district administration and school board said Friday that they are eager to come to an agreement with Geis.

“We are right in the middle of discussions to settle this,” said Supt. James A. Fleming. “I want to settle it and the terms seem to be reasonable.”

Fleming said attorneys for the school district have been negotiating with federal government officials and that the terms of the settlement would most likely boil down to a statement from the trustees and some sort of compensation for Geis. He declined to disclose the possible content of the statement or the amount of compensation, adding that he feared it would jeopardize the settlement.

“All (the settlement) requires is that we do the right thing,” Fleming said.

Geis said she also hopes the case can be solved amicably but remained cautious about it Friday.

“We will wait and see,” Geis said. “The settlement depends on what we can work out.”

Based on talks with board members, Fleming said he thinks the trustees will support the agreement. Some of the trustees said Friday that a settlement would be good for the district.

“Hopefully, we are closer to clearing up this manner and putting it behind us,” Trustee Marlene Draper said.

Ric Stephenson, president of the Capistrano Unified Education Assn., the district teachers’ union, said his office was flooded with calls about the case Friday, when an article on Geis appeared in The Times.

“Teachers say they are glad that this case is being aired,” Stephenson said. “They have witnessed a lot of retaliatory actions in the past and are glad it’s finally made public.”

If an agreement is reached, the settlement will close one chapter in a 10-year battle between Geis, 64, and high-ranking district officials. She still has a pending lawsuit against the district. Judge Cook found that district officials, including former Supt. Thornsley, violated her employment contract and discriminated against her.

Geis’ troubles with the district began in 1981, when school officials transferred her from a high school to a junior high school. Geis, who was 55 at the time, sued, contending that the district discriminated against her by transferring her at a time when four colleagues in the English department had less seniority.

Though she eventually returned to San Clemente High School to teach a speech class, Geis said she was told she couldn’t direct the debate team or receive a $900 stipend for her after-school work. School officials later reassigned the speech and debate classes to a younger teacher who had little experience in the subject.

The harassment did not end there, Geis said. According to the civil suit, which is separate from the federal case, the veteran teacher was continuously passed up for opportunities to teach advanced-placement English courses, which offer students a chance to earn college credits.