Los Banos school district officials sued by ex-teacher for harassment

A former teacher is suing some of the Los Banos Unified School District’s top officials in U.S. District Court for allegedly retaliating against him after he chose to publicly oppose actions taken by Superintendent Steve Tietjen.

Mark Duffy, a former Los Banos High School English teacher, has filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages against Tietjen, Los Banos High School Principal Ryan Hartsoch and Vice Principal Veli Gurgen, and Pacheco High School Principal Dan Sutton. Duffy claims the officials harassed him after he exercised his First Amendment rights.

According to the lawsuit, Tietjen allegedly took offense at Duffy speaking out against Tietjen’s decision to reassign former Los Banos High School Principal Dan Martin. Tietjen was granted the request at a 2012 school board meeting after telling trustees he had “no confidence” in Martin. At the same meeting, Duffy accused Tietjen of engaging in personal attacks, hanging faculty members’ jobs over their heads and encouraging employees to report one another. The lawsuit states Duffy believes Tietjen has a “narcissistic and image-conscious nature” and reassigned Martin to the bus barn for a “make-work administrative position.”

The lawsuit further states that after Duffy opposed Tietjen’s actions the superintendent ordered Hartsoch; Sutton, who was a Los Banos High assistant principal at the time; and Gurgen to apply extra scrutiny to Duffy’s job performance. The result was “frequent monitoring visits to his (Duffy’s) classroom by one or more of the defendants (and) Duffy was transferred out of his AP English course he had taught for several years to a class where he taught continuation students with academic and behavioral difficulties,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also states Duffy had the rest period accommodation for his coronary condition rescinded after Martin’s reassignment, requiring him to work under “restrictions that placed his health at unnecessary risk.”

The lawsuit goes on to state “stress of the unfair scrutiny and retaliation got to Duffy, who had a second heart attack in September 2013. Sutton delivered Duffy a poor performance review on September 16, 2013. Duffy was even accused of faking his second heart attack.”

Sutton and Gurgen declined comment on the lawsuit.

In a telephone interview, Tietjen said the school district has a policy not to speak about ongoing litigation. He did, however, provide a general statement.

“The superintendent is hired to hold the system responsible for student outcomes. When the system works people are held responsible, and often people don’t like being held responsible,” Tietjen said.

Duffy’s contract with Los Banos Unified was terminated in December.

Tietjen has previously told the Los Banos Enterprise he had been followed home by Duffy on two occasions. In August, Tietjen filed a report with the Los Banos Police Department documenting harassing letters sent to his wife that accused him of having an affair. Duffy’s lawsuit alleges that the superintendent tried to connect him to the letters.

The former English teacher also has been at odds with Hartsoch.

Merced Superior Court Judge Donald Proietti issued a restraining order against Duffy in July, directing him to stay away from Hartsoch, his wife, 5-year-old daughter and 1- and 2-year-old sons. The order came after Hartsoch claimed Duffy stood outside of his home and made an obscene gesture with his middle finger and followed Hartsoch from his home or nearby to Los Banos High on 21 occasions from June 2013 to June 2014.

In the lawsuit, Duffy states the restraining order “was based on false evidence presented by LBUSD and Hartsoch” and Duffy “believes that persons associated with LBUSD made special efforts to publicize the restraining order proceeding in the local media, in an effort to embarrass him.”

Hartsoch, like Sutton and Gurgen, declined comment on the lawsuit. Hartsoch did confirm he has delivered notice that he has resigned as principal, effective at the conclusion of the school year. Hartsoch has taken a job in Roseville.

When asked if Duffy’s actions are the reason for his departure, Hartsoch responded: “There are a lot of pull factors. My decision was in the best interest of my family.”

A jury trial has been requested, but no trial date has been set, according to Duffy’s attorney, Kevin Little.

This story was originally published June 3, 2015 at 7:21 PM with the headline "Los Banos school district officials sued by ex-teacher for harassment."