Fairfield Teacher Accused of Sexual Assault and Harassment

by tremontsheldon

A veteran biology teacher and tennis coach at Fairfield  Ludlowe High School is being sued by a female student who contends he  assaulted her and subjected her to sexual harassment and a hostile  school environment.

John Honey, a teacher at Warde High for 37 years before moving across town to  Ludlowe in 2004, is named in the suit, along with the school district, by the  minor and her mother.

When contacted, Honey said he had not yet seen the lawsuit and had no  comment. Assistant Superintendent of Schools Margaret Mary Fitzgerald said  school officials would not comment since the matter is considered a  personnel issue.

Honey, who has not been charged criminally, is still teaching and coaching at  the high school.

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Police confirmed that they did receive a complaint about the matter, but  after an investigation by the Youth Bureau, said they were unable to substantiate a crime had  been committed.

According to the lawsuit, on two occasions during the 2010-11 school year,  Honey kissed the student — once at his desk in the classroom and the second  time in a third-floor hallway. On that occasion, the suit claims, Honey  “intercepted Sally  Doe as she was walking down the hall, grabbed her head and kissed her  forehead. This incident was witnessed by two teachers, one of whom reported it  to administrators who took no action.”

Honey told the student, while discussing a poor grade she received, “that you  could be a stripper,” according to the lawsuit. He also often made jokes of a  sexual nature in the classroom and put his hands on other female students, she  claimed. The suit contends that Sally Doe saw the teacher put his hand on the  leg of another female student, who was wearing leggings, “and asked her if she  had painted them on her legs.”

Despite reporting this information to administrators, the lawsuit claims,  school officials did not notify the state as required by law, nor did they take any action to  protect the plaintiff and other female students from Honey.

“Defendant Honey’s classroom was so permeated with sexual hostility that  Sally Doe found herself unable to endure being in that classroom,” according to  the lawsuit, and the school district failed or refused to provide her with an  alternative to studying biology with Honey. She was issued a failing grade at  the end of the semester because she did not return to  Honey’s classroom.

Source : sexualabusect