“We
cannot do anything technically for six months,” said Mascio attorney
Kimberly A. Procopio, of Nehmad Perillo & Davis in Egg Harbor
Township.
New
Jersey law requires a six-month waiting period after serving the claim,
allowing time for the district in this case to investigate, she said.
It also allows the parties time to talk and possibly avoid a lawsuit.
She said she usually hears from a district’s claims adjustor by several months into the process.
“I’ve heard from no one,” she said Monday.
No one from the district or its attorney returned calls for comment Tuesday.
The
claim states Mascio’s rights were violated when the school district
moved to take away her tenure and her job, after she reported two
5-year-olds had emerged from an in-classroom bathroom last September and
told her they had engaged in sex play.
In
June a state Department of Education mediator found she should not lose
her job, but only be penalized with a 10-day unpaid suspension for a
brief lapse in attention. Since she had been suspended for almost the
entire school year, and it was an unpaid suspension for several months,
he also ordered the district give her all back pay and benefits for the
$98,000 package minus the 10 days.
“The
efforts to interfere with her contractual and legal rights culminated
in various meetings in an attempt to revoke Ms. Mascio’s tenure, and
terminate her contract, rendering her ‘unemployable’ and further
damaging her ability to work as a teacher in the state of New Jersey,”
the tort claim stated.“Ms. Mascio was informed that she was defamed at
meetings held with parents and others wherein Ms. Harring-Marro spread
false statements about Ms. Mascio, including but not limited to claims
that she watched children being abused and did nothing about it.”
It
described her injury as damage to reputation, interference with
contractual rights and emotional distress. The claim does not name an
amount for which she would sue, but said “her damages are ongoing.”
The
district hired a new teacher last year at the starting salary of about
$51,000 to replace Mascio, Mullica Township Education Association
President Barbara Rheault has said; and it paid its law firm of Cooper
Levenson about $40,000 for work on the case, according to district
documents provided after an Open Public Records Act request.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/education/mullica-kindergarten-teacher-still-awaits-response-to-notice-she-may/article_d55b1842-3e00-11e4-98b2-5336a3626707.html
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/education/mullica-kindergarten-teacher-still-awaits-response-to-notice-she-may/article_d55b1842-3e00-11e4-98b2-5336a3626707.html
10 comments:
I don't understand how Mascio can be represented by the law firm of Nehmad,Perillo and Davis.
They are working for the town as our solicitors.
This looks like a big conflict of interest to me.
How can they represent us as taxpayers and a private person suing us at the same time?
If the above person is so worried about being sued and what law firm is protecting the rights of Mrs. Mascio . Maybe if the school board did their job for which they were put in office to do . They wouldn't have to worried who got sued and who didn't.
I hope Kelly Mascio does not settle. This case needs to go to court for slander,defamation and libel and all the pain and stress she has endured. Mazzoni should be listed along with the Board and Marro. I hope it's a jury trial and they all have to testify.
I don't know if the school is covered by the same insurance as the town but it does seem strange that the Nehmad firm is handling her case.
This case should go on the record books as a warning to Boards and Superintendents across the country about the repercussions of their actions.
The BOE did their job, which is to look out for the welfare of the children at our school. Obviously not Ms Mascio first priority or the MTEA's.
To 10:28AM
The BOE did more harm to the town, school and children than the isolated incident. We all saw the truth from the beginning. Too bad you did not do your job and investigate the lies that Marro was spreading.
The MTEA had a duty to defend Mascio against the false claims. The Board deserves to be sued and I wish every Board member could be sued personally for the damage you caused by signing on to Marro's lies without investigating the facts.
The MTEA and the teachers care more about the children's welfare and education than any of the Board members and that can be proved by other measures taken by the Board that have been detrimental to the school.
Why don't you resign now and do us all a favor?
to 10:28 am
The BOE didn't do their job. They just blindly believed the garbage Marro threw out at them. Bob Stollenwerk was the only voice of reason and he should be president of the board next year.
I still can't understand how Mazzoni got a promotion and is in charge of the whole school as principal after he was the one that gave police the false information that started this mess. Thank you BOE for another dumb decision. That move will probably cause more trouble in the future.
I hope Mascio receives the biggest award possible for all her suffering caused by the board"s stupidity and false charges.
10:28 - Interesting that you think the BOE did their job. They blindly followed the request of Dr. Marro without even as much as bothering to try to gather any facts on the Mascio case. (Not to mention that they have drank every glass of koolaid that Marro gave them on many other issues pertaining to our school.) They supported Marro in an unjustified personal attack of a veteran teacher. The BOE supported Marro as the children in that kindergarten class had one teacher after another in that classroom until a "permanent" replacement was eventually found. (Who, by the way, is leaving our school district.) Was this turnover and turmoil in the best interest of those kindergarten kids? Do you really think they got the education they would have otherwise received were Mrs. Mascio consistently in that room? You are fooling yourself if you think the BOE did their job.
Furthermore, as I see it, the MTEA was protecting a teacher from an ineffective, incompetent superintendent who lacked the confidence of almost 100% of the people she supervised. A superintendent who was behaving like a bully and who was clearly waging a personal attack against Mrs. Mascio. Our children's teachers need to be able to advocate for our children without fear of retribution from someone like Dr. Marro.
Finally, do you think the BOE was doing their job when they wasted over $100,000 of taxpayer money on pursuing the Mascio case? What supplies/services are our children currently doing without in order to fund Marro's and the BOE's losing assault on Mascio or did our BOE just have a spare $100,000 laying around?
Doing their job? Nope! Looking out for our children? Nope! Looking out for Dr. Marro? Yep!
Did anyone(besides the BOE) NOT think that Mrs Mascio wouldn't sue for all the damages?It is pretty disgusting and very upsetting that while the pinheads who made the decision to suspend her will not be sued as individuals the residents and many who backed her will be paying for this in taxes. Include also the substitutes salary and the earlier legal fees and you'll be seeing even more "for sale" signs.
To 3:16 pm
That's exactly why I feel that the remaining members should resign now before they make more mistakes. If that is not possible, the President of the Board of Ed., who led the Mascio debacle, should be asked to leave
Mia Jones has already demonstrated her unwillingness to accept any responsibility for the Mascio debacle. It is unbelievable that Matt Mazzoni has been made Principal of the school by the Superintendent. Mazzoni was the person who included the salacious details in the original Police Report per The AC Press. He should have been named in the Mascio lawsuit. Neither Jones nor Mazzoni should have any position at Mullica Township School.
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