Contributed photo
Jessica Light (right): Feeling "vindicated" by jury's verdict.
(Updated) A federal jury has awarded former Worthington Hooker elementary school teacher Jessica Light $1.1 million in damages after finding that the school’s principal defamed and retaliated against her for publicly raising concerns about the safety of returning to in-person learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A jury handed down that decision Monday in the federal court case Jessica Light v. New Haven Board of Education, Margaret-Mary Gethings.
Light, a New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) veteran educator of 14 years, sued the city’s school board and Worthington Hooker’s principal back in 2022.
She accused the principal, Margaret-Mary Gethings, of defaming her and of violating her state and federally protected rights to freedom of speech by criticizing and isolating her after she spoke publicly in 2021 about concerns she had about safety protocols for returning to in-person learning during the pandemic.
The case went to a jury trial last week, and the jury handed down its decision on Monday.
According to Light, NHPS spokesperson Justin Harmon, and Mayor Justin Elicker, the jury ruled in Light’s favor. (A copy of the verdict has not yet been made available by the federal court system by the publication time of this article. Update: The federal court system published a copy of the jury verdict on Wednesday. Click here to read that verdict in full.)
Light, Harmon, and Elicker also confirmed that the jury has awarded Light $1.1 million in damages. Harmon said on behalf of the school district and the city that the school district plans to appeal the ruling. Elicker said that the city is responsible for paying whatever damages are ultimately ordered in this court case.
“The Board of Education, through its outside counsel, defended the lawsuit filed by Jessica Light before a jury in federal court,” Harmon told the Independent in a Tuesday email comment. “On Monday the jury returned a verdict against the Board in the total amount of $1,100,000. While the Board respects the jury’s service, it vehemently disagrees with the findings on both liability and damages, particularly with regard to the damages awarded for the findings related to the retaliation claim.”
Gethings did not respond to a request for comment by the publication time of this article.
The case began during the peak of the Covid pandemic after the school district had returned from entirely remote learning to in-person, in-classroom learning for K‑12 students in the spring of 2021. At the time, Light was a first grade teacher at Hooker.
In March 2021, Light raised concerns to Hooker’s administration about the district’s protocols around keeping students and staff safe from Covid now that they were all back in-person in school.
According to Light’s lawsuit, that speech included participating in a car caravan with the city’s teachers union to speak in support of a “unified district-wide plan to reopen schools safely;” speaking out in Board of Education meetings in January, February, and March 2021 in which she “raised questions about lack of consistency in COVID-19 safety rules across the district,” among other concerns; and posting on Facebook in March 2021 about how the Hooker school administration allegedly didn’t send parent’s letters informing them about all Covid-19 cases at the school and reporting protocols, at the time Light’s two children attended Hooker.
Light argued that her public testimony at Board of Education meetings and in other venues ultimately led to retaliation. Light’s lawsuit states that Gethings “used her authority and influence to falsely accuse Ms. Light of wrongdoing and cast her in a negative light to colleagues and members of the New Haven community.” Light also claimed she was “subjected to targeted hostility” by the principal, and that the principal called her into a meeting and accused her of “creating a false narrative about the school.”
Light specifically had asked her school administration and the Board how she could avoid breaking the district’s rule of keeping students six feet apart when unmasked and eating breakfast in the classroom if her classroom was not big enough to separate each desk six feet apart.
In a May 2022 answer to Light’s lawsuit, Peter Murphy, a Hartford-based attorney representing the school board and Principal Gethings, denied wrongdoing on behalf of the principal and the school board and argued that the actions the principal took were legal and appropriate. (Click here to read that full response.)
In a phone interview with the Independent Tuesday, Light said due to her being publicly outspoken about wanting consistent and viable protocols to keep her and all students safe, the school’s principal and assistant principal accused her of attempting to put the school in a negative light by testifying to the Board and “spreading hysteria and panic in the school community.”
Light initially reported her concerns with retaliation to central office’s HR department. After an investigation the district’s findings made Light feel “vindicated” and like “my fears were valid” but no action was taken and so she filed the case with the federal court.
Over the past two years, Light said, she offered to settle with the district for no payout and only to get back the sick days she had to take off because of mental stress caused by the situation. However, she said, NHPS declined to settle.
(Update: On Wednesday, NHPS spokesperson Justin Harmon told the Independent that the district did in fact try to settle with Light. He described her accusation that the district did not want to settle as “defamatory.” Harmon said: “Ordinarily, we would not discuss confidential settlement negotiations, but the City must respond to Ms. Light’s statement that she offered to settle her lawsuit for only the restoration of sick days. This statement is completely false and defamatory. The Board consistently made good faith offers to settle the case and come to a fair resolution, as it does in all litigation. In this case, settlement efforts were extensive, with both parties participating to two separate mediations with an experienced United States Magistrate Judge. At no point did Ms. Light make such an offer, and at each turn she declined the BOE’s offers, demanding more money than the Board was willing to pay. This left the Board with little choice but to go to trial. The Board looks forward to the District Court ruling on the Board’s post-trial motions and correcting this verdict.”
Also on Wednesday, after the Independent published Harmon’s comment, Light responded with her own clarifying comment. She said she offered to settle for just her sick days prior to filing the federal lawsuit. However, after those negotiations fell through and after she filed and pursued the lawsuit, she said she could no longer settle for just sick days, given her resulting legal and medical expenses. She also acknowledged that, over the course of the court case, a federal magistrate judge did indeed attempt to broker a settlement, but the two sides never reached an agreement. Light stressed that she would “never disclose information on confidential settlement negotiations.”)
As a result, she told the Independent, she’s had to take out a second loan for her house and borrowed money from family to pay for her lawyer. “I never thought it would go to trial,” she said.
The school board and principal were represented by Shipman & Goodwin attorneys. At Monday’s Board of Education meeting the district approved a $150,000 contract for continued legal services for the 24 – 25 school year.
After Monday’s ruling Light said she feels “vindicated” and hopes to send the message to the school community that educators should not have to be afraid of speaking out describing it as a “moral obligation.”
“When teachers speak out without retaliation, students are safer,” she said. “It’s not about Covid but about teachers being able to speak about any safety concerns for students. There’s always safety concerns in schools and teachers always need to be able to speak.”
Two year ago, Light transferred to Ross Woodward to become the discovery lab STEAM teacher.
“It was hard for me to leave. It was an absolutely amazing school and still a beautiful community,” she said.
When asked if the years-long case made her consider leaving the teaching profession, Light said she considered leaving New Haven but not teaching as a whole because it’s been her passion for over 14 years in New Haven and New York before that. She ultimately decided against leaving NHPS because she lives in New Haven and her two children attend New Haven public schools.
While the case’s verdict provided her with closure and the chance to start the 2024 – 25 school year with a fresh start, she added, “if I was the superintendent I’d look into how rampant it is [Hooker staff complaints] and make sure they’re not liable for more with other teachers.”
Light said she was told the school board plans to contest the verdict amount of $1 million. Harmon told the Independent Tuesday: “The Board will continue to fight this case through post-trial motions and appeals.”