Teacher wins $75,000 judgment vs. district

Friday, Nov. 23, 2001 | 10:49 a.m.

A nine-year legal battle involving a teacher who claimed a disproportionate number of children of Clark County School District staff where being let into a program for the academically gifted could end up costing taxpayers $750,000.

In the latest round of court battles, U.S. District Judge David Ezra has ordered the school district to pay $75,000 in damages to Trudi Lytle, a fourth-grade teacher at Marion Earl Elementary School. Attorneys also plan to seek legal fees totaling approximately $400,000.

The school district could decide to appeal, but officials could not be reached prior to the Thanksgiving holiday.

In 1992, Lytle filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the district, alleging she was harassed after telling state lawmakers that 13 of the 40 children in the Student Options for Academic Realization program were children of school district staff. The program provided special instruction and opened the door for academic opportunities.

In February 1993, Lytle was transferred to another school after the district accused her of lowering morale among teachers at Earl Elementary.

In July 1994, Lytle won a $135,000 judgment against the district, which was found to have violated her First Amendment rights by retaliating against her for being a whistle-blower. Lytle also was awarded $61,000 in attorneys fees and, by order of a U.S. magistrate, was allowed to return to Earl to teach.

In 1994 alone the district spent more than $250,000 defending against Lytle. Among the costs were $10,000 in court fees, $3,000 for a court transcript and $10,000 for a legal consultant, as well as the judgment, plus interest, and attorneys fees.

The school district appealed but was denied a request for a new trial. However, that did not end Lytle's legal problems as she has since filed additional lawsuits, including one in October 1995, alleging continued harassment by the district and administrators.

Adam Ganz, one of Lytle's attorneys, said one of the key issues was that after Lytle won the initial judgment against the district, two of her four former supervisors were continuing to oversee her work and continuing to harass her.

Sun reporter Ed Koch contributed to this report.

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