Court filing disputes ex-teacher's claims
Oklahoma City Public Schools is pushing back against a lawsuit filed by a former Douglass Mid- High School teacher and coach.
Willis Alexander was fired in 2017 because of an undisclosed impropriety. He taught students with learning disabilities and was the head football coach for 11 years.
Alexander sued the district last month, complaining in a petition he was wrongfully terminated and denied his due process rights. He is seeking a damages in excess of $75,000.
“He was neither notified that his termination was being considered on the (school) board's agenda nor given an opportunity to attend his termination hearing,” his attorneys argue in a petition. “The bad faith breach of Alexander's employment contract was only exacerbated when the District denied Alexander's due process right to challenge his termination.”
The district, in a motion to dismiss filed this week in Oklahoma County District Court, con tend sit did not breach Alexander's employment because “his teacher certificate was invalid, his contract was void, and he was not entitled to due process.”
The state Board of Education voted to suspend Alexander's teaching certificate on Aug. 24, 2017. At the time, Brad Clark, general counsel for the state board, said the panel acted to suspend Alexander's teaching certificate after receiving a report that “student safety had been jeopardized at Douglass Mid-High School.”
School district and state Education Department officials have declined to discuss specifics surrounding Alexander's alleged misconduct.
A settlement agreement between Alexander and the state board obtained by The Oklahoman showed Alexander was “suspended from employment” in January 2017. In the agreement, Alexander waived his right to a revocation hearing and agreed to resign his employment with Oklahoma City Public Schools no later than Dec. 31, 2017, unless otherwise agreed to by Alexander and the district. On Nov. 7, 2017, the district notified Alexander by letter that he was being terminated because “you currently do not have a valid teaching certification from the Oklahoma State Department of Education.”
In the motion to dismiss, the district argues Alexander has failed to state a claim for breach of contract and violation of due process.
“District submits that all of Plaintiff's claims in Counts I and II fail because his contract was void by operation of law and thus his entitlement to due process was extinguished,” the motion stated. “When the State Board of Education suspended Plaintiff's teaching certificate ... he no longer met the legal criteria required of a teacher, no longer had a property interest in his teaching position, and was not entitled to due process under state law.”