Former bus driver for Fayette schools sues, alleging sexual harassment

"I just want to make sure that it's clear to people 

that I want this district to operate 

in a transparent and open fashion,

and deal with whatever issues we have."

-- Tom Shelton

The Herald-Leader picked up the transportation suit story today.  With at least two more suits waiting in the wings, I suppose they will continue to follow up. Good. That would give the public some of the institutional accountability we need.

(At this point, one supposes they are not going to publish Rosalind Hurley-Richards' recent appellate victory. Perhaps it's not news.)


H-L pretty much echoed the information in our transportation story, without the humorous little quiz.

This from H-L:

A former school bus driver has sued the Fayette County Board of Education, alleging she was sexually harassed while working for the school system. Superintendent Tom Shelton says he's considering an independent investigation into the case and other possible issues in the district's Transportation Department.

Shelton said Tuesday that he began hearing of concerns about working conditions in the transportation department soon after he was hired in June. He said he was considering a possible inquiry even before the lawsuit was filed.

Former bus driver Sherry King filed suit in Fayette Circuit Court on Sept. 9 against former superintendent Stu Silberman; transportation director John Kiser; transportation supervisors Deborah Goodlett, Deborah Durbin and Steven Lane; and members of the school board....

Fayette Transportation Director Kiser Sued for Retaliation Against Whistle Blower

King v Silberman, Kiser, Goodlett, Durbin, Lane and BOE

11-CI-4618

Fayette Circuit Court

Suit Makes Civil and Constitutional Claims

New Superintendent to Launch 

Independent Investigation of Numerous Transportation Complaints

OK, boys and girls. Let's start with a little Pop Quiz. Please select the best answer to the following questions.

1.
Imagine you are a Transportation Supervisor for your local school district. You witness a reliable 28-year bus driver discussing with district mechanics a problem with the wheel chair lift on the bus she uses to transport special needs children to school everyday . What do you do?

a. Learn about the problem so that you might assist your driver in solving it, thus protecting the children who use the lift.

b. Tell the driver's assistant that she should help the driver "pumping up" the lift so that her breasts might grow to the size of the driver's; ask the driver why she never had breast reduction surgery; repeatedly ask the driver to show you her breasts saying, "Can I see your titties?"; rub your own breasts and tell the driver that you  "always wondered what they looked like"; tell the driver that any more than a mouthful is a waste and that you "will talk about penises tomorrow."

2.

Imagine you are a Transportation Manager and a reliable 28-year veteran complains that a supervisor is creating a sexually hostile environment in the bus garage. What do you do?

a.  Follow board of education policy, investigate, and if you determine that an employee is acting inappropriately, correct them.

b.  Tell the driver that her complaints about the supervisor are "much ado about nothing."

3.
Imagine you are that same Transportation Supervisor again. Your boss has dismissed a complaint against you for sexual harassment.  What do you do?

a.  Count your lucky stars that you still have your job, and take care not to mess up again.

b.  Look for every opportunity to bully and torment your accuser; board the driver's bus and make it clear that you will be reviewing video tape looking for evidence to catch her doing something wrong.

4.
Imagine that you are the District Transportation Director and you hear that the driver, whose complaint was denied, began gathering photographic evidence of favoritism you and your staff show to some employees - like allowing only certain employees multiple extended breaks during the day. You learn that the driver has successfully filed an EEOC complaint and received a "Notice of Right to Sue."  What do you do?

a.  Ascertain the facts and attempt to resolve the issues by ensuring that all employees are treated fairly and equitably.     

b.  Call the driver in and accuse her of harassment for taking pictures in a public place; tell the driver that she "will be dealt with"; begin a campaign of retaliation, singling her out for scrutiny by reviewing her video tapes dozens of times; claim that these reviews were being done randomly; call the driver into the office for a good brow-beating more than a dozen times; try to get her to accept a three-day suspension without pay (for eating ice on the non-air conditioned bus in hot summer weather); threaten her with a civil lawsuit; tell her that you will set up a meeting with the superintendent, but don't do so; call the local police to meet her bus and help harass and intimidate her for her whistle blowing about the sexual harassment; and, following a minor fender bender, deny her permission to attend to the immediate health concerns of her daughter - all of this eventually affecting the driver's own health.  

5.
Imagine that you are the superintendent of schools in this district and you learn that a whistle blowing driver wanted to meet with you. What do you do?

a.  Meet with the driver to learn about her complaints and resolve the issues according to district policy.

b.  Send school district law enforcement personnel to the driver's home, and when she finally resigns, accept her resignation without investigating the underlying complaints.

So, how'd you do on this quiz (the language for which was drawn directly from court documents)?

If you chose answer "a" to each of the questions above, then you probably understand state law and school district policy. Or perhaps, you're just a reasonable person who wants to see the school district respect its employees and conduct its business in a fair manner.

If you chose answer "b" to the questions, then your head is probably somewhere else.

Final grading of this quiz will take place in the Fayette County Circuit Court room of Judge Kim Bunnell when the jury weighs the evidence in King v Silberman at some point in the future. King's suit, filed only nine days into the term of new Fayette County Schools Superintendent Tom Shelton seeks damages "in an amount in excess of the court's jurisdictional amount." That sounds like a lot.

Named in the suit are: 

Former FCPS Superintendent Stu Silberman

Transportation Director John Kiser

Transportation Supervisor Deborah Goodlett

Transportation Supervisor Deborah Durbin

Transportation Manager Steve Lane, and

The Fayette County Board of Education

In six counts, King claims the district illegally violated state law. 

Count One: retaliation

Count Two: Violation of KRS 61.102 (whistleblower statute)

Count Three: breach of contract

Count Four: constructive discharge

Count Five: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

Count Six: Arbitrary and Capricious Acts in Violation of the Kentucky Constitution

King seeks unspecified damages for mental pain and suffering, punitive damages, court costs and attorney's fees, trial by jury, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and other appropriate relief.

This suit is only one in a long list of complaints that have surfaced from the transportation department in recent months. We've heard of numerous grievances that die in the department without being forwarded up the chain of command, that instead of trying to resolve issues the district tried to prevent former FCPS attorney Brenda Allen from representing bus drivers, cases of overt disrespect of school district personnel, and more KSN&C did not report. Other folks have heard about troubling issues too.

Even before he took office - and before he knew this lawsuit would be filed - FCPS Superintendent Tom Shelton heard about complaints involving the transportation department. In an early show of decisive leadership Shelton has decided to look into the situation. He informed KSN&C yesterday that he is in the process of identifying an appropriate individual to conduct an independent review of the transportation department.  "I talked with staff right as I started on September 1 and began the planning for the review, Shelton told KSN&C. "We are in process now of negotiating with individuals to get the review started," he said.

More details will be provided once a process is defined. For a guy who's only been on the job for two weeks, this is a very strong statement about how Shelton intends to conduct business in Fayette County.

Sources inside the department of transportation tell KSN&C that Shelton's response is like a fresh breeze that will go a long way toward making all drivers breathe a little easier - knowing that "their concerns will, at last, be heard." 

Respect and Disrespect

Amid the good news for Fayette County Schools, gleaned from the recent TELL Survey, are a couple of bothersome items that mirror comments made by KSN&C readers on occasion. Many teachers feel disrespected. Not only that, but they feel unable to voice concerns.

Fayette County scores 10 points below the state average when it comes to teachers feeling that an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect exists. Similarly, Fayette County lags 10 points behind the state when it comes to feeling comfortable raising important concerns. Even fewer teachers believe that there is an appropriate amount of input allowed teachers on decision making.

While not a part of the survey, the same concerns have been echoed by a growing number of district transportation employees for a number of months now. In fact, we've received a new batch of transportation documents that would seem to establish a generalized atmosphere of disrespect (and perhaps worse) and even ridicule of bus drivers. And it is very clear these drivers fear retaliation if district administrators were to discover that they have "talked out of school."

This perceived disrespect manifests itself in various ways but most consistently it seems to be a general tone - how the administration addresses the bus drivers. Folks know when they are being "talked down to" and they resent it. The drivers say it all starts with Director John Kiser.

For example, below is a photo sent to KSN&C of a notice that was taped next to the department of transportation time clocks recently, apparently instructing adults on what they may, and may not, do while using the restroom.


A little clarification might be in order.

The very-inclusive-sounding "WE" sheet referred to above, is a weekly missive from Kiser that announces events, and more often, instructions. But if the drivers are to be believed, it is also a place where the director ridicules certain individuals if he is unhappy with them for some reason. Although not personally identifiable, it is pretty clear that someone is being addressed, and those "in the know" (including drivers from time to time) are usually aware of who it is. Remember this?

Here's what one driver thinks the above message really says:

Kiser: I've already told you this, but apparently somebody is so stupid that I have to say it again. If you absolutely must use the restroom at a school, go one at a time. And you dummies need to be told what you can and can't do while you are in there....

Now I remember enough from elementary school to know what #1 and #2 are, but it made me wonder if there was a #3. The driver reminded me that, for women, there is a #3 but it's apparently forbidden by the transportation department's potty police.

"I'm an adult. When I go in there I might wash my face and I'll certainly wash my hands. I don't need anybody telling me what my bodily functions are," one driver told KSN&C.

This driver said they called Human Resources downtown and told them about the sign. HR reportedly said, "Oh my God, you've got to be kidding me." The message was subsequently altered but not before the above photo was taken.

There is a leadership theory that suggests less-educated employees may need more direction than would be given highly-skilled professional personnel. I get that. But nowhere in that theory does it suggest that patronizing or humiliating language does anything to build the capacity of the work force or foster the camaraderie Kiser's "WE" would suggest. Sarcasm doesn't work as a means of improving the performance of students, and outside of boot camp, it doesn't work with adults either.

The drivers say they are told that the WE sheet should be taken as department policy. But a review of several We Sheets (...or is it the wee wee sheet now?) over several months reveals a tone and purpose that is inappropriate for any policy document.

For example, on February 24th, after one employee grumbled about not being selected for a promotion, instead of (or perhaps in addition to) talking to the individual personally the We Sheet carried an item on "Why I wasn't selected for Driver Trainer School" that said, "Was it because of my three preventable accidents? Was it because 13 of my last 17 absences were on a Monday or Friday?..."

On May 12th Kiser (or perhaps We sheet editor Mona Seratt) favored the staff with the definition of "prattle." Why? Was that a message to the troops that their complaints were meaningless?

Apparently, like when Kiser defined a "blogger," the We Sheet is used to send surreptitious messages. Well, the messages are getting through. And too often they spout disrespect.

Blogging from Under the Bus

"A blogger is likened to the rail bird

that hasn't been anywhere,

hasn't done anything,

and is contemptuous of anyone who is

waging the day-to-day battles of life."

---from John Kiser's weekly communication

Clearly bloggers are defective. Everybody knows that. We're all unemployed, living in our mother's basements - just lounging around in our pajamas all day sucking up beer and hogging the doritos. So it came as a surprise to learn that FCPS bus honcho John Kiser fired a little volley at us lowly pitiful souls in his most recent transportation communication. Anyone know what prompted that?

As is our custom, KSN&C followed up on and earlier allegation we received. I wrote to district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall to see if she could now confirm and comment on the following allegation?

That a bus driver was passed over for a position. That the employee grieved. After that, the employee was disciplined for not following in line during a field trip (or something like that) and was removed from the trip list, reducing the employees ability to earn wages. And that, by the time of Mary's ruling, 90-days had passed, rather than the 10 days required by policy, by which time, the disputed position had gone to another driver.

(NOTE: Careful KSN&C readers will note that any inuendo regarding racial motivations related to the alleged action has been dropped from the above description. Additional information from our transportation moles make that initial claim more doubtful.).

Deffendall responded,

I spoke with Stu about this and he said that he has looked into the situation, but because it is a personnel matter, he is not able to comment on it.

OK so before, the district had to look into it, and now it's a "personnel matter." We did some more investigating and it seems like that's not all it is.

Turns out the bus driver found his or her way to Frankfort and is now being represented by a certain former FCPS in-house counsel - indeed claiming that his or her grievance was buried for 90-days while the job the driver was seeking went elsewhere.

So, now Fayette County Superintendent Stu Silberman has another reason not to comment, since this matter appears to be under litigation.

Wait. It gets better.

Silberman had his outside counsel, Bob Chenoweth, send Brenda Allen a formal request to withdraw from representing the bus driver. The district is claiming that Allen's representation constitutes a conflict of interest because she would only have known about "problems with John Kiser" from being Counsel to the Board.

But get this.

When Allen was a law student in the 1990s, her job, while working for JoEllen McComb (who represents Rosalind Hurley-Richards), was "to receive all of the complaints from Fayette County School bus drivers, many of whom ultimately sued Kiser, for retaliation, harassment etc."

Allen reminded Chenoweth that he was the attorney on the other side of one of those cases.

I told them I would not be withdrawing from representing her or any of my Fayette County employee clients and that I carefully review the rules to ensure that there is no conflict before I accept their request to be their attorney. I told him it was ironic that 14 years later I have bus drivers coming to me about Kiser.

Allen told KSN&C that she was delighted to be working with Chenoweth again (even as opposing counsel) and Allen sent her regards to his wife and invited the couple to the grand opening of her restaurant.

I'm pretty sure the Hanna Report glossed over the potential fallout from outsourcing legal services in Fayette County. I'm also starting to understand why Kiser's day-to-day life is full of battles.

Our sources joked that, to them, Kiser was the true "blogger" since he doesn't have a CDL and can't drive a bus.

Apologies to BARBEE for abusing a perfectly good cartoon.