On Monday we told you about a suit in Spring Branch ISD brought by a substitute who was greatly offended by being called “only a substitute.”  The plaintiff in that case was a sub—but at least she had been at it for a while. The court noted that she had served as a sub from 2012 until her termination in 2015.  Today’s Daily Dawg features a suit by a sub who was fired after one day on the job!!  Thus we get another nice illustration of the one rule of law that has no exceptions: ANYONE CAN SUE ANYONE OVER ANYTHING AT ANY TIME FOR ANY AMOUNT.

Mr. Scott claimed that Crockett ISD fired him due to his age, and his race, and that the district created a hostile environment and retaliated against him.  He also alleged that he had been assaulted. In one particularly interesting allegation, Mr. Scott claimed that he tried to shake hands with a man who contracted with the district and that the other guy “responded by placing him in a headlock.”  There must be more to that story…..

The district’s explanation for the termination was:

After just one day, school administrators received multiple complaint’s concerning Scott’s language and behavior while substituting this class. Several students issued handwritten letters to school officials documenting Scott’s alleged actions, and CISD attached these handwritten allegations as evidence to its motion for summary judgment.  Specifically, a student alleged that Scott made inappropriate comments concerning religion, bisexuality, suicide, and the sex slave trade. The student also accused Scott of using derogatory terms for homosexuals.

As with the Spring Branch case we reported on Monday, this one also is decided in favor of the district.  Like Ms. Silva in Spring Branch, Mr. Scott handled this case himself and his failure to comply with court procedures proved costly.  Nevertheless, the case illustrates how districts sometimes must expend significant resources defending themselves from claims by employees, even employees you hardly got to know.

 The case of Scott v. Crockett ISD was decided by the federal court for the Eastern District of Texas on March 22, 2017. The court dismissed all of Mr. Scott’s federal claims, refused to retain jurisdiction of his assault claim, and left him free to re-file that one in state court.  The court’s decision is at 2017 WL 1079549, adopting a recommendation from the magistrate judge that can be found at 2017 WL 1097214.

 DAWG BONE:  ANYONE CAN SUE ANYONE….

 File this one under: LIABILITY

Tomorrow: can I get unemployment benefits while I’m still listed as being on FMLA leave?