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November 15

WVW wants teacher’s suit dismissed

By Terrie Morgan-Besecker tmorgan@timesleader.com
Law & Order Reporter
Terrie Morgan-Besecker on Facebook   |   @TLTerrieMorgan on Twitter

SCRANTON – An attorney for the Wyoming Valley West School District has asked a judge to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed by a teacher who claims she was wrongly suspended after she was falsely accused of abusing students.

Angela Kairo-Scibek of Plymouth filed suit in 2009, alleging the district violated her right to due process when it suspended her in 2007 after police began investigating allegations she had struck three special education students with a wooden object.

Kairo-Scibek was later cleared of the charges after the students admitted they made up the allegations. The district re-instated her and paid her all back wages once the charges were dropped.

The lawsuit, filed by attorney Mary Walsh-Dempsey of Scranton, claimed the district violated Kairo-Scibek’s rights because it failed to provide her a hearing to contest the allegations before it suspended her.

In a motion filed Monday, the district’s attorney, Robin Snyder of Scranton, said the district was obligated to take immediate action, given the allegations of abuse, in order to ensure the safety of students.

“The district could not allow the plaintiff to return to the classroom until these allegations and charges were resolved and to suggest otherwise is ridiculous,” Snyder wrote.

Snyder also says the state school code only requires a hearing if a teacher is to be terminated. Kairo-Scibek was suspended, therefore no hearing was needed.

Snyder further argues that Kairo-Scibek’s complaint against the district was resolved through the union’s grievance process, which resulted in her being reinstated, although to a different position, and reimbursed for all her back pay she lost while on suspension.

Kairo-Scibek’s attorney will have an opportunity to respond to the motion. A judge will issue a ruling at a later date.

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