Tecumseh teacher files lawsuit against district, superintendent after 2021 altercation with student

CLARK COUNTY — A Tecumseh Middle School teacher is suing the district and its superintendent, claiming that they infringed on his freedom of speech.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court Monday, Ed Lyons described an incident that happened on Nov. 5, 2021, between him and a student. It started when a student refused to follow classrooms rules and stood up to leave without permission.

When Lyons blocked the door and refused to let the student out, the lawsuit claims the student “became physical” and pushed Lyons against the wall. The incident lasted about 10 minutes, “during which time the student further initiated physical contact with Mr. Lyons.”

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Tecumseh teacher on leave after in-class altercation won’t face criminal charges

It was later revealed that another student had filmed the incident on their school-issued laptop. The lawsuit claims that no one from school leadership told Lyons about the video and that evening, Lyons was served a letter notifying him that the district was putting him on administrative leave.

In a notice of disciplinary charges, the lawsuit said Crew described a “distorted, one-sided account” of the incident, claiming Lyons “placed [his] arm around the student’s neck.” It also claimed Crew failed to “acknowledge that the student was the aggressor.”

At his pre-disciplinary hearing, the lawsuit states that Lyons was given a choice to “sign a ‘last chance’ agreement or be terminated.” Lyons refused to sign the agreement, but he remains employed at Tecumseh Middle School. He was later suspended without pay for five days.

Lyons challenged the suspension through his union. An arbitrator later ruled that the district did not have “just cause” for Lyons’ suspension.

“While the arbitrator’s decision set the records straight on what happened that day, the ruling could not undo the negative media coverage of the incident which was substantially driven by Superintendent Crew’s actions,” the lawsuit states.

>> RELATED: Tecumseh middle school teacher on leave after ‘extended physical altercation’ in classroom

Lyons claims in the lawsuit that Crew’s actions in response to the altercation were in retaliation for comments Lyons made at a school board meeting in February 2020, where he expressed concern about the worsening student misconduct problem and the district’s failure to remedy it with consistent disciplinary measures.”

Among other things, Lyons is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

News Center 7 reached out to the district for comment on the lawsuit.

“Tecumseh Local Schools has not been served with notice of this lawsuit; thus, we do not have detailed knowledge of the information yet,” Crew said.

© 2023 Cox Media Group