A Missouri school superintendent has won a wrongful termination suit against the school district. The District Judge for the Missouri Court of Appeals stated that the district had failed to produce documents that had been requested by the superintendent and his legal aid. However, the school district’s representation stated that they had thousands of items of documentation, and they would have been able to provide what was necessary for the case.
The district had stated that there were some emails that they could not recover but that it was out of their control and that they had other documents available. The school claimed that the Missouri school superintendent had resigned and was not wrongfully terminated. The school district will accordingly have to pay out sanctions to the former superintendent.
The sanctions were not decided upon at the same time, but instead, an additional hearing would be used to determine the amounts. The district reportedly intends to appeal the court’s decision. The personal emails that were being sought were alleged to contain documents that had shown that the board members were using their personal accounts to conduct district business.
Any employee who believes he or she has been wrongfully terminated can pursue aid from an employment law attorney to make a claim against their employer. This includes being forced to resign, which is what allegedly occurred in the case of this superintendent. A wrongful termination can occur for many reasons, so an employment law attorney may be needed to determine whether a termination was wrongful or whether the termination was in line with a state’s at-will policies. If a termination was wrongful, the terminated employee may be able to gain compensation from their former employer, which can include lost wages and other associated damages.
Source: Liberty Tribune, “Wright wins suit against district“, Ryne Dittmer, June 27, 2013
