Settlement Off in Teacher Suit Against Pupils

The settlement of a Ventura High School teacher’s lawsuit against two former students fell apart after the teacher publicly said she felt vindicated, the attorney for one of the students said.

Sue McEwen, an English teacher, filed a lawsuit in December against juniors Matthew Lee and Cliff Hawthorne, whom she accused of duplicating a rubber stamp she uses to validate homework assignments.

At the time, McEwen said she was seeking $750 in damages in a case involving forgery, fraud and invasion of privacy. However, court documents show she is seeking unspecified punitive damages in addition to general damages of $1 million.

McEwen received widespread support from educators who argued that students should be held accountable for their actions. A fund set up to pay for her legal fees received more than $1,500 in contributions. But backing for McEwen will dwindle, predicted Lee’s attorney, Donald Everhart.

“Support will erode when the facts are disclosed and people find out that over a relatively trivial matter, [McEwen] filed a lawsuit for over $1 million,” Everhart said. “She has enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame, but the clock is still running.”

McEwen and her attorney declined to comment about the case Thursday.

The dispute arose in October, when Lee took an impression of McEwen’s rubber stamp and had a duplicate made. The lawsuit alleges that Lee acted in concert with Hawthorne.

The students were caught before they were able to use the stamp. They were expelled from the English class and given a failing grade for the semester, which would have shown up on their permanent records.

But Lee’s parents argued that the punishment was too severe and they hired an attorney to take the matter up with the Ventura Unified School District. The district eventually agreed that the initial punishment was unlawful. The students were given a failing grade in their quarterly report cards. Quarterly Fs do not show up on a student’s permanent record.

The parents’ actions pushed McEwen to sue.

“Morally, I am suing for a matter of principle,” McEwen said earlier this year. “I am suing because cheating should not be tolerated. Parents should be held accountable for the actions of their children.”

The attorney for the school district, Don Austin, said the parents agreed that Lee should be punished but they want the punishment to be reasonable.

“The punishment is supposed to fit the crime,” Austin said. “Here the punishment was too severe. It would have been a violation of due process.”

The school district hired a mediator to resolve the dispute between the teacher and the students, and a confidential settlement was reached in February. But earlier this month, McEwen publicly said she had been vindicated.

Everhart said McEwen’s statements were a breach of the settlement, and on March 15 he filed a response to McEwen’s original complaint.

McEwen “didn’t live up to the terms of the settlement,” Everhart said. “I will litigate the matter. We intend to be vindicated in court.”

In the meantime, Everhart filed a claim against the district.

“I filed a claim on behalf of my client against the school district for invasion of privacy in the action of their employees,” Everhart said.

That claim is close to being settled, the attorney said.

“We agree in principle, but we haven’t put it in writing,” Everhart said.

Austin, the school district’s lawyer, said he is hoping the settlement will also involve the teacher. But if the teacher doesn’t agree to the settlement’s terms, he said, the district will settle with the student.