By Adam Pagnucco.
On October 23, a plaintiff known only as Jane Doe filed a civil discrimination lawsuit against the Montgomery County Board of Education and former principal Joel Beidleman in Montgomery County Circuit Court. The attorney, Jerry W. Hyatt of Rockville, is not the attorney who wrote a litigation memo recently referenced by the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA). That creates a possibility that MCPS could face multiple lawsuits in connection with its sexual harassment scandal.
Jane Doe was a teacher at Farquhar Middle School, where Beidleman was once a principal, until earlier this year. She alleged that she “was forced to endure quid pro quo sexual harassment, discrimination, a hostile work environment, and bullying during the course of her employment at Farquhar Middle School by Beidleman, unlawful acts that were willfully ignored or unaddressed by her employer.” She left the school “following years of severe and pervasive incidents of quid pro quo sexual discrimination, a hostile work environment, and acts of intimidation by Defendants.” She filed suit anonymously because she “has been, and is still being, threatened and harassed as a result of the allegations cited herein causing mental injury.”
The plaintiff’s allegations bear a resemblance to the Washington Post’s original article on the scandal. I post five excerpts from her complaint below.
Excerpt 1
“From 2019 throughout 2021, Dr. Beidleman consistently and routinely made comments to Plaintiff about her appearance with sexualized connotations. These comments would be made at school and outside of school. Comments include, but are not limited to, ‘I love those tight-ass black pants’; ‘I want you to slap my bologna’ and multiple invitations to meet him at a hotel. He also told me that ‘You should shave your pussy and sell the hair. You’d make a killing.’ These comments made Plaintiff feel uncomfortable and she requested him to stop, but the conduct did not stop.”
Excerpt 2
“In September 2020, after a work happy hour at a colleague’s house, he announced in front Plaintiff and a group of colleagues, ‘Don’t you think she should just f*ck me?’ Plaintiff left the party but was asked to come back because Dr. Beidleman was uncontrollable in his intoxicated state. He had gone into the bedroom where another co-worker was sleeping, had been pulled from there, and was then trying to drive home.”
Excerpt 3
“In April, 2022, Dr. Beidleman accused Plaintiff of telling someone about his conduct towards her and ‘that someone was talking to his wife.’ He threatened Plaintiff not to reveal information to anyone. He stated ‘I might have to reconsider your job here for next year.’ Based on these threats, Plaintiff felt her job was in jeopardy and suffered severe anxiety.”
Excerpt 4
“On May 9, 2022, a staff member sent MCPS Superintendent, Dr. McKnight, an email disclosing the toxic environment Dr. Beidleman has set up at Farquhar Middle School. As a result, a MCEA meeting was scheduled. Plaintiff attended this meeting. That night, Plaintiff received a phone call from Dr. Beidleman asking her ‘What was the union meeting about? Who was there? What was said?’ Plaintiff did not comply with his requests for information. At the subsequent ILT meeting, Beidleman threatened the staff that ‘I know everything that gets said about me around this building. You all better watch out for what you say and who you say it to.’ Based on these threats, Plaintiff felt her job was in jeopardy.”
Excerpt 5
“On January 13, 2023, Dr. Beidleman professed his love for Plaintiff in the school hallway but told her that she was ‘hard to love’ and was ‘unlovable.’ Plaintiff was extremely uncomfortable with the comment. She informed Beidleman that she was in a relationship with someone else, which angered him.”
There is much more. The complaint is 20 pages long.
Doe then alleged that MCPS engaged in a “cover up” of Beidleman’s conduct. She alleged that since 2016, “at least 25 verbal or written reports” had been submitted to MCPS describing Beidleman’s behavior. The plaintiff filed a complaint of her own in February 2023 and alleged the following events.
“On February 3, 2023, Plaintiff filed a Complaint for Discrimination, Harassment and Workplace Bullying against Dr. Beidleman. Khalid Walker, an MCPS investigator, was assigned to investigate the complaint. Almost immediately, Mr. Walker began breaching the confidentiality protocols set forth on Policy ACI and Regulation ACH-RA by informing witnesses and those involved that the Plaintiff was the complaining witness.
“This breach by Walker was not an unintentional mistake. It was designed by the Defendant to ostracize the Plaintiff and put additional pressure on her to withdraw her Complaint. During this time, MCPS wanted to promote Dr. Beidleman to Principal of Paint Branch High School.
“Instead of performing an objective and good faith investigation, MCPS tampered with the Beidleman investigation. MCPS initially concluded that the Plaintiff’s complaint was meritorious and that Beidleman had harassed and/or intimidated her. That finding was submitted to the MCPS the same day that Beidleman was interviewed for the Paint Branch job. However, MCPS subsequently ordered a change to that conclusion to the report ‘to reflect that there was not enough evidence to substantiate’ the Plaintiff’s claim. MCPS also changed certain dates of the investigation on documents to aid Beidleman. In effect, MCPS chose to cover-up Beidleman’s conduct so they could reward him.”
The plaintiff is now suing MCPS and Beidleman on one count of sexual discrimination under state law and one count of sexual discrimination under county law. She is seeking damages exceeding $75,000 along with litigation costs, punitive damages, attorney’s fees and other relief deemed proper by the court.
It’s important to recognize that the above are allegations in a lawsuit. By bringing suit, the plaintiff has acknowledged her burden to prove her allegations in court.
The case number is C-15-CV-23-003967 and the docket can be viewed on the state’s case search website. The amended complaint can be downloaded at the link below.