Schools
Portland Public Schools Votes to Settle Lawsuit, Avoid Trial
School board wants superintendent to examine how harassment complaints are handled.
The Portland Public Schools board voted Monday to settle a lawsuit from a teacher who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by another teacher while at school. The teacher who sued will received $250,000 as part of the settlement.
The board also directed the district superintendent to examine who the district handles harassment complaints are handled.
The decision to settle, first reported by The Oregonian, stems from a lawsuit filed just over one year ago charging that the district had not done to deal with complaints regarding the teacher, Mitchell Whitehurst.
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The district allowed Whitehurst to retire after he pleaded guilty to harassment, a misdemeanor, according to the suit.
If the district had not settled, a trial would have started in October.
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