WHISTLEBLOWER SUIT BLOWS LID OFF PERKINS, BISD ACTS

By Juan Montoya
A whistle blower lawsuit filed in the 445th District Court is charging that a science teacher with 24 years of service was forced to quit work because of retaliation after she reported several instances of alleged inappropriate acts by administrative personnel at Perkins Middle School.

The lawsuit was filed by teacher Rita Garcia against the BISD and English teacher and student sponsor activities Victor Ramirez, individually, who she charges defamed her by falsely filing a grievance against her for allegedly calling him a "pedophile" in a hallway before an open classroom.

Among some of the acts reported by teacher Rita Garcia to principal Beatrice Hernandez were:

* That on October 1, 2017, one of her special education 8th-period students was kept from her required curriculum science class by another Behavioral Intervention teacher so he could attend a party during school hours. As a result, she said principal Hernandez called her into a meeting where Perkins Dean of Instruction Giselda Delgado was present and where Hernandez refuted her complaint - despite corroboration by another teacher - and denied that the party had occurred during school hours.

*That the following December 13 while Garcia was discussing a scheduling mix-up during benchmark testing, Hernandez tried to pressure another teacher to say Garcia was yelling at the teacher.

* That Ramirez passed out invitations to the school's Christmas party to be held at a local lounge and that during that party Perkins Athletic Coordinator Sam Martinez was taped and the video posted on Instagram where Martinez stated: "Perkins, fuck them, pinches viejas amargadas, vallanse a la verga." Garcia charged that among the people accompanying Martinez was principal Hernandez.

*That when she contacted assistant principal Sandra Gomez to report the disturbing video, she was told board member Phil Cowen would be contacted on the incident  and that it would be investigated. She alleged that the incident involving Perkins Middle School administrators consuming alcohol, posting worldwide internet and social media photographs and publishing unethical, damaging statements and disparaging remarks bout female teachers at (Perkins) "violate BISD school personnel policy and the Code of Conduct for administrators."

* That on Feb. 8, 2018, a Child Protective Services and Brownsville Police Department report was filed against Ramirez by Ruth Robles, a teacher at Perkins, that an eighth-grade student reported that Ramirez had taken him along with other students to his home in his vehicle. Ramirez, who sponsors student activities, among them the food drive, is pictured at right in the Perkins website with the participating students.

He also said that Ramirez had purchased expensive clothes for students and bring them breakfast tacos to the school. When Robles forwarded copies to principal Hernandez, she took no action until nine weeks later when BPD investigators showed up at the school. As a result, Garcia's lawsuit states, Robles began to experience retaliatory incidents from Ramirez and Hernandez.

* That on March 8, Garcia -  without notice of an investigation - was called into a meeting with Hernandez and Area Administrator Dora Sauceda where she was accused of calling Ramirez a "pedophile." She said her request to have legal counsel present was denied. After the meeting, she went to BISD Human Resources to report the incident and other incidents of retaliation. Ten days later, she received a certified demand letter from Ramirez's attorney demanding that she apologize to him in writing and to complete an anti-bullying course among other things.

* That 11 days later, on March 19, she was notified by email that Ramirez had filed a Level I grievance for allegedly calling him a "pedophile." In his grievance, Ramirez charged that Edgar Chong, a Perkins history teacher, had told him that Garcia had verbalized loudly in the school hallway that "they always want to be in the 7th grade hallway with that pedophile. Upon clarification being requested, he said Garcia had stated "Mr. Ramirez, that pedophile."

* That seven days later, on March 26, principal Hernandez issued a reprimand against her alleging she had failed to cooperate with the investigation by requesting to have legal counsel present. Hernandez concluded that Garcia had called Ramirez a "pedophile" and issued her a reprimand.

* The following day - March 27 - Garcia was instructed to report to Stell Middle School, a move she alleges was a direct form of retaliation. Afterwards, she was transferred to Garcia Middle School.

As a result of her reporting these incidents, Garcia said she was "reprimanded and transferred to other schools in retaliation among being the target of harassment at work around a hostile environment. Were it not for those reports, she charges, that retaliation would not have occurred. Up until she reported these incidents to the school's and the BISD administration Garcia had "enjoyed and maintained an unblemished school personnel record."

Garcia's attorney, Noe Robles, said she is asking for damages of less than $250,000 and other damages within the jurisdiction of the court, loss of income, and physical and mental anguish plus attorney fees.