It’s unfortunate we had to go this route, but justice has to be served. I didn’t take a $20,000+ cut in salary and send myself in to more student loan debt to be stopped in my tracks. Principal Linda Hill and her cronies came after the wrong parent/educator. On top of that, Department of Education officials seem to be assisting her in not only hiding her financial misconduct, but aiding in trying to destroy my young career as an educator.
I don’t think so. They were not ready for me.
My attorney, Bryan Glass Esq., and I filed a Federal lawsuit in June 2012 (see below). The Department of Education attempted to try and have the case dismissed on September 21, 2012. Federal Judge Renee Mauskopf, of the Eastern District, questioned NYC attorney Christopher Seacord and asked why should we dismiss the case so early without looking into the plaintiff’s claims? She basically told them she will not dismiss and will allow for full discovery. Forgive me as I’m trying to learn all the lawyerspeak and lingo. My understanding is that full discovery allows for all documents that pertain to me including deposing people whose testimony can back my claims. I made a rather lengthy list of DOE and non DOE employees who I believe hold the answers.
Even though Judge Mauskopf informed the city that she will not allow dismissal, the new NYC attorney, that took over the case, Jessica Giambrone, is still pushing forward with a Motion to Dismiss attempt.
Federal Complaint Portelos official
Bryan and I are putting together a response that describes adverse employment and explains how my allegations were of public concern. We are scheduled to go to for the initial conference on December 19, 2012. (Just 2 days before the Mayan’s predicted the world would end. I hope we can uncover some answers in time.)
U.S. District Court
Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn)
CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:12-cv-03141-RRM-VMS
| Portelos v. City of New York et al Assigned to: Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf Referred to: Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon Cause: 42:1983 Civil Rights Act |
Date Filed: 06/22/2012 Jury Demand: Plaintiff Nature of Suit: 442 Civil Rights: Jobs Jurisdiction: Federal Question |
| Plaintiff | ||
| Francesco Portelos | represented by | Bryan D. Glass Glass Krakower LLP 100 Church street, 8th Fl. New York, NY 10007 212-537-6859 Fax: 845-510-2219 Email: bg@glasskrakower.com LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED |
| V. | ||
| Defendant | ||
| City of New York | represented by | Christopher Aaron Seacord New York City Law Department 100 Church Street New York, NY 10007 212-788-0866 Fax: 212-341-3934 Email: cseacord@law.nyc.gov LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED |
| Defendant | ||
| New York City Department of Education | represented by | Christopher Aaron Seacord (See above for address) LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED |
| Defendant | ||
| Dennis Walcott Chancellor of New York City Department of Education |
represented by | Christopher Aaron Seacord (See above for address) LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED |
| Defendant | ||
| Linda Hill Principal of I.S. 49, in her official and individual capacity |
This guy went in to serve Principal Linda Hill sporting a DTOM shirt. Can’t make this stuff up.
Will keep you posted… thanks for your support.
good luck Francesco!!! You are doing a fantastic job putting people who frame others (The Gotcha Squad) by filing false reports, on high alert that they must stop doing this!
body{font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-color:#ffffff;color:black;}p{margin:0px;}I salute your courage and wish you Godspeed.Patrick Walshchapter leaderPS/MS 149
I give you a great deal of credit and you are smart to go to the courts to hopefully find justice. Bryan may get busy if you are successful, other teachers may see how to hold abusive administrators in check. I would guess you are getting absolutely no assistance from the UFT in this matter.
Thanks. Union is telling me they are working on the situation.
Tell me where and when this all takes place…I’d love to come..and watch what transpires…let me know!
I’ll ask if it’s public
This is the usual DOE pattern. You file suit , they respond with a 50H hearing and then a massive Motion to Dismiss. You go through Discovery and Depositions (your principal among others) and then file with the court saying you are ready for trial, they file the second and even grander sounding Motion to Dismiss. Good Luck
At this point they don’t seem to know what to charge you with so may wind up sending you somewhere else to teach thus preserving their options to say, “Well, we had just cause to believe he might have done something wrong but when we realized there might have been some miscommunication we sent him back to the classroom. This proves we are operating in good faith.” (And thus strengthening their second MTD)