AUBURN — A special education teacher is suing the Auburn School Department, alleging that school administrators failed to properly intervene when she brought to their attention allegations of bullying, sexual harassment, inappropriate behavior with students and other issues at the Franklin School.
The suit, filed by Heather Oinonen, accuses the School Department of failing to discipline a pair of teachers who allegedly bullied special need students, suggestively touched female students and displayed “sexually charged, racist and politically extreme videos” in the classroom.
Oinonen, who claims she was ultimately punished for bringing complaints to school administrators over a period of more than a year, is seeking damages for “severe emotional distress, embarrassment, humiliation, and reputational damage.”
The 18-page complaint alleges that the Auburn School Department’s actions constituted a violation of the Maine Whistleblowers Protection Act.
Oinonen, a special education teacher since 2012, began working at Franklin in September 2020. She was only the second special education teacher to work there, according to the suit, and her work almost immediately received resistance from her colleagues.
In particular, the suit alleges, Oinonen began to experience firsthand an array of disturbing behavior by a pair of teachers at the school, both of them men.
Those teachers are named in the civil suit, although they are not named as defendants. The Sun Journal is not identifying them while the case is ongoing.
The suit claims that both teachers demeaned special education students — in front of their classmates — and refused to follow Oinonen’s Individual Education Plans for them.
One of the teachers, Oinonen claims, “made fun of a severely learning-delayed student, who was working with Heather on a lesson in learning to count money, by laughing at him and saying, ‘Oh, good. Now he can work at McDonald’s.”
The other teacher, according to the suit, “grilled special ed students who were reading at below grade level in front of other students, insisting they could do the work and saying, ‘Miss ‘O’ thinks you’re dumber than you are.'”
That teacher also demanded that a special needs student, who was at a fourth to fifth grade reading level, read poetry by Walt Whitman.
The suit also alleges a few instances of racial misconduct, claiming that one teacher referred to a class with biracial students as his “Black class.”
One of the teachers, Oinonen claims, on one occasion paused a video on an image of young African American man with dreadlocks, saying to the class: ‘How can you take someone like that seriously? Look at that hair?'”
The suit claims that the same teacher “would let students who unquestioningly submitted to his authority violate the rules with impunity, including allowing them to go unmasked during the COVID epidemic while emergency pandemic orders were still in force.”
Oinonen claims that one of the teachers constantly harassed female students in a variety of ways.
That teacher, according to the suit, “often blatantly stared at female students’ breasts and backsides, referred to them as ‘sweetie,’ ‘honey’ or ”babe,’ and made physical contact with them, playing with their hair, touching their necks, rubbing their shoulders, running his hand down their arms and backs, and draping his arm around their shoulders while looking down their shirts.”
Oinonen also claims the same teacher sexually harassed her, as well, suggesting that she dress up as a “slutty mom’ because of her large breast size.
Oinonen first began reporting the behavior to Franklin School Principal Melissa McLeod in September 2020. Initially, Oinonen claims, her concerns were dismissed and she was told to “learn to accept the Franklin way.”
Soon after, Oinonen began writing emails to document her complaints, as well. However, reaction to her complaints is described as tepid at best and dismissive at worst.
In June of 2021, McLeod and a representative from the Auburn Education Association met with Oinonen and the two teachers she had complained about. One of the teachers, according to the suit, “walked into his mediation session with Heather holding a golf club, which he swung repeatedly during the meeting, demonstrating that he did not take the matter under discussion seriously and adding an element of menace to his presence.”
Ultimately, according to the complaint, Oinonen was told to go home for the remainder of the school year and to come back fresh in the fall. The following school year, according to the suit, Oinonen began observing the same troubling behavior by the same two teachers she had reported.
Again she wrote to the principal to report what she had witnessed.
On Nov. 17, 2021 “McLeod finally responded to Heather with an email which was dismissive of Heather’s stated concerns,” according to the suit, “and subsequently ignored a responsive email on the issue from Heather.”
Oinonen also claims she began receiving bad reports and reviews as a result of her complaints.
On Dec. 1, 2021, in a meeting among McLeod, Special Ed Director Laura Shaw and Heather, McLeod advised Heather that she was unlikely to give her a recommendation to be rehired.”
A short time after, Oinonen’s primary care physician found that her blood pressure was “dangerously high” as a result of job anxiety. She was urged to take a leave of absence, which her superiors granted.
On Dec. 30, 2021, Heather emailed Superintendent Cornelia Brown, informing her that, “I have been harassed, bullied, and attacked for doing my job by co-workers” and offering to provide more detailed information.
Oinonen also provided Brown with a list of roughly a dozen students who she said would corroborate her allegations. After meeting with Oinonen, Brown promised to investigate, according to the suit.
In February 2022, Brown summarized her investigative findings in a letter to Oinonen.
“In her letter, Brown stated that (one of the teachers Oinonen had complained about) had engaged in some unprofessional conduct towards Heather and in her presence but that his conduct did not rise to the level of sexual harassment and that there had been no retaliation against Heather by her superiors. Brown did not address any of Heather’s allegations relating to violations of special education laws, sexual and racial harassment of students, or violations of COVID safety protocols.”
In March 2022, according to the suit, McLeod encouraged Heather to resign, saying her contract would not be renewed.
Around the same time, Oinonen called the Child Protective Services hotline to report the troubling behavior she had witnessed at the school.
Shortly after, according to the suit, school administrators attempted to discourage students from cooperating with the DHHS investigation, warning those students of what trouble would come to them if the school were to be shut down.
On March 28, 2022, Brown issued a formal report detailing the results of investigations into Oinonen’s claims. No disciplinary action was taken against the teachers.
Two days later, Oinonen resigned. She has since taken a position at another school in another city.
Her suit against the School Department was filed in October 2022. She is being represented by Lewiston attorney Elliott L. Epstein.
The Auburn School Department this week, through attorneys from Brann & Isaacson, responded line-by-line to the allegations laid out in the complaint. Although they affirmed some of the particulars, they denied the bulk of the claims made by Oinonen.
The response includes a request that the suit be dismissed “in its entirety with prejudice.” The response also asks that the School Department be awarded any costs incurred by the suit.
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