Thursday, February 27, 2014

Court documents: R-8 official made gay slurs, said he wanted to bend principal over her desk

Joplin R-8 Superintendent C. J. Huff is nothing if not a man of action.

When his custodial supervisor told him that he was being sexually harassed by Building, Grounds, and Transportation Director Mike Johnson, Huff said he was deeply concerned.

"Has he said anything about the principals?" Huff asked.

George Morris was concerned. This meeting, which took place September 9, 2008, was not Morris' idea. He felt uncomfortable talking about his immediate supervisor.

After a pause, Morris said, "Yes. "I heard Mike Johnson say that he would like to bend Marilyn Alley (former Stapleton Elementary principal) over his desk" That was one of many times Johnson had talked about Mrs. Alley, he added.


Since he had already talked about the sexual harassment, Morris, feeling there was nothing left to lose told Huff about improper ordering and storage procedures that Mike Johnson had ordered him to do.

As the meeting ended, Huff reassured Morris, "This information will be kept confidential. There won't be any retaliation."

Less than two months later, George Morris was fired.

The information about Morris' meeting with C. J. Huff is included in a wrongful discharge lawsuit filed in 2010 in Jasper County Circuit Court. The case was originally set for trial in 2012, but was delayed when district officials claimed they had lost all of their records in the May 22, 2011, Joplin Tornado.

The case was scheduled to come to trial two days ago, but was delayed, with no trial date in sight.

According to the petition, the meeting came at the request of Huff and former Assistant Superintendent Doug Domer. Morris was asked if there had ever been any problems between him and Johnson.

Morris said he did not feel comfortable talking about Johnson, since Huff and Domer were Johnson's bosses.

"He's going to know this came from me. I am the only one who knows about these things," Morris said. Morris also said that despite his never having had a bad evaluation that he thought what he was going to say would get him fired.

"Has he ever said anything to you that offended you concerning sexual preference?" Huff asked.

Morris said Johnson had made such remarks on more than one occasion. One such occasion was on September 9, 2008, just three days earlier, and was made in front of a witness, Gayle Bigley, according to the lawsuit. "Mike Johnson said something about my beard and Gayle said that he thought I kept it because the girls liked it. Mike Johnson responded with he thought I kept it because the guys liked it. I told him he was sick."

Morris told Huff that in August 2007, "while submitting a vacation request, Mike Johnson made a comment about Plaintiff going to see his son in Hawaii.. Mike Johnson told Plaintiff, 'Yeah, sure. We all know that you are president of the Gay Society; there is no need to lie about it."

Morris told Huff of yet another time when Johnson had made disparaging remarks. Morris was preparing to go trout fishing and prepared a vacation form. According to the lawsuit, Johnson said, "Yeah, right. We know that you're really heading up the gay convention; you aren't fooling anyone. We are all familiar with Brokeback Mountain."

At that point, Morris said, he told Johnson he found the comments to be offensive.

After that, Morris said he was worried about retaliation.

"There won't be any retaliation," Huff said, then asked him about the principals.

The lawsuit indicates that Morris believes Huff told Johnson about the meeting because within a week Johnson "became cold and distant."

On October 24, 2008, Johnson called Morris into his office to do his evaluation- nine months late. It was the first time Morris had ever received a poor evaluation.

Three days later he was fired "and not given a reason for his discharge."

The lawsuit charges Johnson and the Joplin R-8 School District with retaliation and wrongful discharge "for reporting sexual harassment and improper food ordering and storage procedures.

Morris is asking for a jury trial, damages, costs and punitive damages due to "defendants' evil motive or reckless indifference to the rights of others."

Morris' lawsuit is one of three that have been filed within a three-year period alleging wrongdoing on Mike Johnson's part. The district has paid settlements in the other two, including $276,000 in a lawsuit filed by Urban Metropolitan, which accused Johnson of racial discrimination.

Another lawsuit, filed by James Tucker, a 26-year veteran of the school district who was fired was detailed in the January 18 Turner Report.

Tucker was president of the Joplin Education Support Personnel, the chapter of Missouri NEA for support staff and as part of his responsibility in that position, according to the lawsuit, he sent letters to "Defendant Huff registering complaints brought to him by members of the union that Defendant Johnson had threatened them and otherwise acted inappropriately towards them in the course of his role as their supervisor."

Those letters were the beginning of the end of Tucker's employment with the R-8 School District, according to the lawsuit.

These letters played a direct role in Defendants’ decision to terminate Plaintiff  from employment and his termination constituted retaliation for raising the issue of Defendant Johnson’s inappropriate behavior in addition to his other advocacy on behalf of the Union.
    
Plaintiff attended a meeting with another Union member and Defendant Johnson in which the Union member registered complaints with Defendant Johnson about another employee. 

At the meeting, Defendant Johnson told Plaintiff and the other Union member that he could fabricate facts about them and have them terminated from employment if they did not cease their advocacy.  The other Union member was in fact terminated from employment shortly thereafter.   

 On May 3, 2010, Tucker received a letter from the district telling him he was being laid off due to "significant financial restraints."

Since according to the district's agreement with the union, Tucker should have been eligible for any job that came up because of his considerable seniority, he continued to serve as union president, until C. J. Huff put an end to that, according to the lawsuit.

After Plaintiff was terminated from employment on June 3, 2010, he still served as Union President until August 5, 2010, and it was expected by Union members that Plaintiff would still perform his duties as Union President and negotiate on the Union members’ behalf. 
  
When Plaintiff attempted to attend a meet and confer session on behalf of the Union with representatives of the Defendant School District at which the Administrative Guidelines were to be renegotiated, he was told by Defendant Huff to leave the meeting because he was no longer an employee and could no longer serve as a representative on the Union’s behalf.  
 Defendant Huff terminated Plaintiff’s employment and asked Plaintiff to leave the meeting because he knew that he would not be able to force his agenda upon the Union if  Plaintiff was present. 
  
Plaintiff’s termination from employment constituted retaliation for Union advocacy and other activities which he had a right to engage in under the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution.
   
The individual Defendants engaged in a concerted pattern of intimidation as part of a School District policy and custom designed to intimidate Union leaders and other Union members so that they would cease advocating for their interests and to destroy the efficacy of the Union itself.  This policy culminated in the termination from employment of Union leaders who refused to bend to the will of the School District.   

Tucker sued the school district because of its denial of due process. After he was laid off, Tucker filed grievances, but was never allowed to have a hearing.

The Administrative Guidelines defined the procedures by which employees could file grievances and appeal decisions made by their supervisors concerning their grievances. 
   
After learning that he would be laid off from employment and after he learned that he would not be allowed to replace employees with less seniority than him as is required by the Administrative Guidelines, Plaintiff filed multiple grievances against the School District pursuant to the Administrative Guidelines in May and June of 2010.
   
On June 25, 2010, Plaintiff received a letter from Defendant Huff stating that because Plaintiff was no longer an employee of the School District, he had no recourse to file grievances under the Administrative Guidelines and therefore denied Plaintiff the opportunity to defend his rights using the process described in and required by the Administrative Guidelines.
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16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Huff has surrounded himself with bullies because he can't handle anything by himself. They work at every level, carrying out his pathetic agenda for him so he stays clean and gets the speaking engagements and the attention. And the Board just lets it go on year after year. What a sick bunch of people are running the R8 school district. I hope everyone of these law suits pays off for those who filed them.

Anonymous said...

What a bunch of pigs. I bet they did put that lawsuit off. Huff has to have his protection on the Board in order to survive. It's unbelievable.

Anonymous said...

Liars and thieves. Birds of a feather flock together and Huff is surrounded by the flock he chose for himself. The only question is why is he still employed by any school district after all the evil that's been done.

Anonymous said...

I would rather drive a hundred miles than teach for those people. I don't know how anyone stands it or why the parents have permitted it to go on. The district isn't owned by the management, you know. Run them off.

Anonymous said...

If they were as good at education as they are at corruption and harassment it would be halfway bearable. Unfortunately, they are only good at corruption and harassment. This is what my increased taxes are supporting and I don't like it at all.

How do we get this scum out of here? I can vote but i hate taking that long. He should have been gone a long time ago and all his bullying friends with him. I wonder if there is someone in the state or federal level who would be interested in these jerks. You can bet they've done more than harass the staff. They have no morals.

Anonymous said...

How do the Board members put their heads on their little pillows at night knowing they have put these people in charge of Joplin's children? I can't sleep thinking about it and it's not my kids anymore.

Anonymous said...

Did Mr. Huff go into to court and say I didn't do my homework for court because the Tornado ate my evidence. One way to get rid of these people is called a CLASS ACT Lawsuit. How about if the Board of Education really wants to get reelected fire Huff. Watch and see if the council members who fired Rohr get reelected. Their platform: "Hey we were just helping Mr.Rohr get a better job by the beach.

Anonymous said...

It's about time that Mike Johnson's rude, crude, and socially unacceptable behavior has come to light. Many of us who have worked in the district for years have seen his tantrums and the sense of dread he evokes in those who worked under him. I witnessed that more than once in my own building, including how he treated our former secretary and even our principal. I find it incredibly sad that CJ backed Mike Johnson, and fired the people who dared to bring Mike's inappropriate behaviors to light. CJ should be ashamed. So glad I chose to leave Joplin Schools. It used to be such a great place to teach. Not any more!

Anonymous said...

Huff & Co are still here because the Board that doesn't believe in being involved in its own district doesn't know what's going on. The only way they will know is to talk to teachers or read the Turner Report, which they would never be able to admit to doing. They darned sure aren't going to see this in the Globe. If they admit to reading Turner and knowing what's wrong, they'll have to admit that they've done other things wrong (like firing Turner and a whole lot of other people). So they play denial and let the quagmire continue to worsen.

Anonymous said...

Oh I am so very disappointed to read all of this. I don't have any first hand knowledge of CJ, but I had the impression he was a nice guy who did great things for our schools. Now I know there is more to the story. You see, I have first hand knowledge of Mark Rohr and it turns my stomach for so many people to think great things about him when I know the behind the scenes truth. My apologies and condolences to the school district employees who have had a miserable work environment due the administrations politics. I feel your pain.

Anonymous said...

There is nothing so low that the current administration won't cover it up or participate in, is there.

Anonymous said...

Funny, I haven't noticed any emails or announcements from CJ Huff stating these charges are false. Maybe no one has "brought them to his attention" yet. Yeah, right. He knows the comments and postings in the blog by heart. He can't deny the charges because they are true. The best he can do is get out of town where maybe no one has heard of him and his infamous tornado story and he can start fresh. Of course, if they research him, all of this will be waiting for them to read.

Anonymous said...

Johnson is a disgusting jerk and a bully, and CJ Huff and the Board have allowed him to stay the same way they have allowed Tina Smith and Angie Besendorfer to set their own terms. There is plenty of evidence now to plainly see a pattern, and no one has even tried to deny these charges. Anyone with morals would have fired Johnson as soon as these actions came to light. Instead, CJ protects him. This is as bad as promoting Tina Smith, who possesses no educational background, into second in command. Obviously, CJ Huff has no scruples. And the
Board approves.

Anonymous said...

Turner Report, I noticed you use a moderator function to screen all your posts - nothing gets posted unless you SCREEN it first...hmmm, seems like you have the ability to keep out any comments contrary to your negative rants and your "selective few" you want to post. So be an equal opportunity web poster - I know Dr. Huff - one of the best administrators I have met. To libel and accuse and host a site with a myriad of posts from the irrational few shows your character. Personnel records are private - he couldn't LEGALLY tell you the rest of the story or defend himself unless he wished to be sued. Grow up and all of you posting to this site grow up too; hateful hateful people. Really? CJ Huff is immoral? Underhanded? a "Thug" abusing his power? -- not a chance. CJ has been and always will be a servant leader - doing what is right even when the hateful, libelous few DON'T APPRECIATE SOMEONE WORKING HARD EVERYDAY FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. And no, I'm not a relative, or his mom or dad -- the time is always right to do what is RIGHT, even when you aren't popular. Did any of you posting here EVER consider what it means to BE a leader? It means you have to make TOUGH decisions and you CAN'T please everyone - doing what is RIGHT means you make enemies; you all represent the hateful minority. No understanding of what it means to lead, no understanding of what really goes on (you only get one side) and NO UNDERSTANDING of how GREAT you have it with a leader like CJ. YOU ALL do not deserve him; I hope he lands in a bigger better district that appreciates him.

Anonymous said...

I have seen the way Johnson reacts to people...that i know to be true and they should of never fired Tucker.,,bad move on the district part. ..they will pay for the lawsuit.

Anonymous said...

8:34

Please site something that C.J. Huff had done that isn't illegal, immoral, underhanded, or a "Thug". You are probably him or one of his pocket buddies anyway. Joplin BOE (with exception to Dr. Fort) is a joke. Full of thugs. Don't for one minute think.you have any evidence that would show different. Laughing stock is what this school district had become