Facebook case two years later: Barrow teacher still waiting for decision
One of the Facebook photos that a "parent" complained about in an anonymous e-mail
Not a week goes by when I don’t get an e-mail from somewhere around the world asking about the fate of Ashley Payne, the Barrow County teacher who lost her job two years ago after an anonymous e-mailer sent Facebook photos of her sipping wine and drinking beer in Europe.
While the case was in court last week, it remains unresolved. A decision is expected shortly but Payne’s attorney is not optimistic that she will regain her high school teaching position.
“Not yet. I don’t think it is happening,” said attorney Richard Storrs in a telephone interview today. “There is a new superintendent, and I was really hoping that this new superintendent would see things in such a way that we could move forward. But they are dug in more than ever.”
Now in graduate school at the University of Georgia, Payne said in an e-mail today, “I don’t think winning my job back has been a possibility since my contract ran out in the summer of 2010. The best I can hope for is some kind of monetary compensation and for everything to be resolved so that potential employers will know that there is no more to the story and no skeletons waiting to come out of my closet. I wonder if the ‘pending’ status of my case has made employers hesitant to hire me.”
The Facebook photos were standard travel shots in beer gardens and cafes and would have passed muster with most Sunday school teachers. Payne was simply sitting at a table with pals. Of 700 vacation photos, 10 had alcohol in them.
On her Facebook page, which was set to the highest privacy levels and was limited to Payne’s adult friends, she also posted that she was headed out to play Crazy Bitch Bingo, a popular game played weekly at Joe’s On Juniper in Atlanta.
According to an anonymous e-mail sent to the Barrow school chief, a student saw Payne’s Facebook page, an allegation that rang false from the start. In court documents, Barrow County admitted later that it never discovered the source of the e-mail or whether any student ever saw Payne’s Facebook page. (If you read my earlier blogs, you will see there is good reason to believe a colleague of Payne’s sent the e-mail, which came from a fake address.)
That is an important factor in this case as Barrow initially told me that Payne’s main offense was sharing her Facebook page with a student. Yet, the system never confirmed that a student ever saw the page.
At the time, I talked to the head of the state Professional Standards Commission, the state’s governing body over teacher conduct. He told me his office would not have responded to an anonymous e-mail, even though Payne’s boss told her that it was likely the PSC would strip her of her teaching license if the complaint came before it. The principal then suggested to Payne that resignation was a safer option for her, according to the written statement provided to me by Barrow County schools.
In an overreaction that drew condemnation around the world, Barrow forced the young teacher and UGA grad to resign. (If you are unfamiliar with this case, please read this blog.) The story sparked international debate over whether teachers should have Facebook pages, and where their privacy and school conduct codes collide
Barrow has moved for summary judgment, which is a ruling by a court without a full trial. Arguments were heard last week in Superior Court.
“The judge basically expressed that he thought some of their arguments were persuasive, basically that Barrow delayed long enough now that mandamus is not the right remedy. So, I told Ashley after the hearing that we would amend the complaint and go from there,” said Storrs. (See news story below for explanation of mandamus in this case.)
Payne continues to pursue her master’s degree to make her more marketable as a teacher, says Storrs. “It just doesn’t make any sense what happened to her. And she is such a delightful person. At every juncture, I thought we could get this resolved.”
Payne and I exchanged e-mails a while back about the case in general. I asked her if I could post her comments back then and she agreed, but I was waiting for an update to her case to share them:
So, here they are:
“I want more than anything for this case to be resolved– in my favor, but I am doing my best to move on with my life in the meantime. Teaching is still what I want to do despite the bureaucratic hypocrisy with which I have had to deal. I don’t want to let myself fall by the wayside like many passionate young teachers who are quickly jaded by the American educational system and switch to more appreciated careers that pay higher salaries.
“The system needs more young (and old!), passionate, idealistic thinkers — in spite of the fact that some of us use newfangled social networking sites and have a glass of wine or two during summer vacation. That’s why I’m seeking some semblance of justice in this case and continuing to work on my M.Ed. in Educational Psychology at the University of Georgia. I love kids, and I am learning even more about how they think and learn so that hopefully — hopefully soon — I can get back in the classroom and get back to doing what I love.”
Here is a news story about the hearing from the Gainsville Times:
Former Barrow County teacher Ashley Payne is waiting on a decision from a Superior Court judge about her former job.
It’s been nearly two years since the former Apalachee High School teacher claims she was forced to resign from her job due to the content of her Facebook page — a photo of her with an alcoholic drink and a posted curse word.
Payne filed a lawsuit against the district in October 2009, asking for a hearing from the Board of Education to determine whether she should keep her job and keep seeking payment from Aug. 27, 2009, until the day of the hearing.
Payne, her attorney Richard Storrs of Mills Paskert Divers and the counsel for the school district, Daniel Murphy of McLocklin & Murphy LLP, appeared before Chief Judge David Motes last week. Motes reviewed the Barrow County School District’s request for a summary judgment, which would allow Motes to dismiss the case without it going to trial.
The controversy surrounding Payne began Aug. 27, 2009, when an anonymous email sent to then-Superintendent Ron Saunders complained about the content on Payne’s page.Saunders forwarded the email to Apalachee Principal David McGee.
According to Payne, McGee called her into his office before classes began and convinced her to resign, saying she would be suspended otherwise.The district has always maintained that Payne resigned voluntarily.The case has gotten national attention and called into question how school faculty should handle themselves in the world of social media.
According to the attorney for Barrow County Schools, Payne’s complaint against the system should be dismissed for four reasons: Payne’s complaint, called a writ of mandamus, was filed against the Board of Education when it should have been filed against Saunders; a mandamus cannot be used to compel discretionary actions; a mandamus cannot undo an act that has already been done; and since Payne’s contract is expired, her request to initiate Fair Dismissal Proceedings is void.
Before the trial, Storrs said he filed an amendment adding the superintendent to the complaint.
On the other three counts, however, Motes appeared to favor the school district’s claims.
“The judge did not rule … but he said the school district has presented a pretty persuasive argument that this mandamus may not be right,” Storrs said. However, he still believes his client has a strong case.
“Our argument is that she was entitled to her hearing and is still entitled to that, she was entitled to her pay, so we believe the mandamus is still appropriate,” he said.
Storrs is also planning the next move for his client. “My basic plan is to file an amended complaint which will still be valid claims,” he said. “I think she has a valid claim for breach of contract for salary, and also think she has a claim for civil rights violations for not getting her hearing.”
Murphy was more hesitant to comment on the case. “The judge didn’t rule, so it’s really premature (to speculate),” he said. “We don’t know if there’s going to be another hearing. If there’s going to be another hearing, we know the issues but we don’t know when or where that will take place. … I don’t want the judge to think we’re trying this in the press. We are completely at the discretion of the court.”
–from Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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257 comments Add your comment
Parenting2
August 17th, 2011
1:24 pm
Let this be a warning: Check your Facebook friend list carefully and delete like there is no tomorrow. Don’t give whoever your deleting a second thought – they probably won’t notice anyway. If you choose to use FB, you have to be extra vigilant about who you “friend” and what you allow people to see. I am still shocked at seeing people with 900 “friends,” no privacy settings, nothing. They are just asking for trouble.
I Love Life Cereal
August 17th, 2011
1:28 pm
And one more thing:
Any “poster” here who claims to be offended by the word “bitch” has no credibility and is a shining example of the type of people who attempted to crush this teacher. Please come back to the real world, where one the real scale of what matters “bitch”, and other mild words, certainly are not on the top-10 list of “offensive” words.
There are far, FAR more serious issues to contend with in the world. Moaning and crying at the use of the word “bitch” is an exercise in silliness and a complete waste of time and resources.
BuckheadBill
August 17th, 2011
1:29 pm
Wish we had teachers like when I attended school in Barrow Co.
NO
August 17th, 2011
1:30 pm
@This is bs
You’re wrong if this was a african american woman it wouldn’t have even made the news..
oneofeach4me
August 17th, 2011
1:31 pm
This sucks all the way around. As a parent, if I had a complaint, I would surely sign my name to the letter and give all contact info the school would need to update me on the situation. This email did not come from a concerned parent, most complaining parents want updates.
There are a couple of things that don’t sit well with me. 1. Why did she resign so quickly. Then again, I guess it looks better on your record than being fired. 2. Why did this unfold in the matter of two hours?? No investigation at all? Maybe the problem is Ashley turned town someone’s advances and they are not happy about it.
I Love Life Cereal
August 17th, 2011
1:32 pm
I think I see part of the problem:
1. Teacher appears to be happy in life.
2. Teacher appears to be attractive, and appears to contain a warm, inviting personality
3. Teacher appears to otherwise be achieving what she wants in life, and enjoys teaching
Yep, that’s all it takes for bitter, jealous, hateful, & overweight cvnts to go on the offense and try to break you.
In the world we live in, some people simply hate those of us who are in good physical shape, try to succeed (and do!), and otherwise are glad to be here.
It’s a slap in the face to respectable teachers everywhere when this kind of soap opera is not only allowed to begin but get to the point where she loses her job!!
ONLY IN AMERICA, LAND OF THE PRUDES
Tech '10
August 17th, 2011
1:32 pm
Who wants to live in Barrow County anyways, backwards as all get out. Heaven forbid someone go to Europe and have some drinks, experience the culture. Heaven forbid someone go play bingo with some friends in a homosexual area of town. Oh no, watch out everyone, this teacher is going to start preaching the devil and growing horns and lawdy have mussy she must resign now because Barrow County doesn’t stand for this type of bad behavior. … Idiots, all of them.
A Conservative Voice
August 17th, 2011
1:34 pm
@Good Mother
August 17th, 2011
1:01 pm
The “bitch” word does. This word is just as offensive to me as a woman as the N word is to a black American.
What I (had I been the school board) would have recommended is for her to apologize publicly for using the word “bitch” and reinstated her teaching license.
Oh Mom, do we really have to?…….this is a free speech issue. If we did what you propose, we’d have to extract an apology from probably 90% of our teachers. Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, there, I’ve said it……no, I’m not talking about you, but I said it on a public forum……are you going to send this to the speech police? This is just a ridiculous waste of our time and resources……give the young lady her job back, with back pay.
Tony
August 17th, 2011
1:34 pm
Under Georgia’s medieval laws, a trip abroad in the summer is viewed as an extension of the classroom. That is, in the view of our archaic laws, it is just as if Ms. Payne was drinking alcohol on the job in Barrow County. I should know, a similar thing happened to me years ago I took ten students to the Univ. of Georgia for a two-day group of activties to design our school yearbook. Four months later several of these students got angry at me regarding a yearbook decision I needed to make. They reported to the (very weak) principal that they had smelled alcohol on my breath in Athens (months before). The principal said the parents believed their kids, so my contract was non-renewed. The district let me stay on until the end of the year since no one else knew how to do the yearbook. Wasn’t that generous of them?
sliderule
August 17th, 2011
1:35 pm
Maureen, thank you for keeping this in the news. Having read many comment pages, I have never seen so many thoughtful, well written responses to an obviously ridiculous situation. Barrow county would be the laughingstock of Ga if it weren’t for the APS. Tell me this is not in a Barrow county courtroom. The judge could be as stupid as the school administrators.
TheatreGuy
August 17th, 2011
1:37 pm
Sorry folks, but as a certified drama teacher originally from GA and now working in NJ, I can tell you that its “adios” for the young teacher…..she needs to wake up and get a different job, forget about getting back into teaching because anywhere she goes now, her actions will follow.
I have been accused of being “old fashioned” in my teaching styles, but I can assure you…I don’t have a Facebook or Twitter account. I know a teacher in Bergen County, NJ who has an account and he puts his daily rants on it and only because he has tenure he hasn’t been fired for his remarks.
Teachers….stay in the classroom and stay off the Facebook!!!
Parenting2
August 17th, 2011
1:37 pm
@I Love Life Cereal: Yup, I see the work of a hater all over this. They hate anyone who seems to not be completely miserable and wanting to end it all. I wish they would, and leave the rest of us muddling through, and grateful for this gift called Life, alone. We all have problems. They let theirs turn them into horrible people. Maybe if they weren’t so worried about what their neighbor was doing they could make things better for themselves.
Tech '10
August 17th, 2011
1:37 pm
@Tony: That…. sucks. And people wonder why we are having such a hard time finding and keeping quality teachers.
DHD
August 17th, 2011
1:37 pm
Government schools.
Tech '10
August 17th, 2011
1:39 pm
(Gasp) Upon closer inspection of the picture, I think I can see the face of satan in her beverage.
Jesse Jackson has a scheme for you.......
August 17th, 2011
1:42 pm
TRUST me if this young woman had been black, I would have been on the first private jet ( sorry Barak ) to Atlanta. No school system would get away with treating my people like this…….but since she is white……….let the justice system work folks…………if anything happens to a black teacher down there…yall call me….Right now I am trying to prove that Beverly Hall is the greatest Superintendant in the world……
Peace,
Jesse
Rick in Grayson
August 17th, 2011
1:47 pm
The Barrow Board of Education must be a bunch of idiots. This teacher is allowed to have a private life. What she was doing was not illegal.
Schools do not take actions against students for what they do outside of class.
I hope they take it up a level if the Barrow justice system does not give provide her a jury trial.
5150 UOAD
August 17th, 2011
1:49 pm
We should go through everybody’s personal photos and see if they should have a JOB because of what they do in their free time.
nurse ballbreaker
August 17th, 2011
1:49 pm
my guess is some jealous old hag had it out for pretty miss thang….
To I Love Life Cereal from Good Mother
August 17th, 2011
1:49 pm
You wrote “Any “poster” here who claims to be offended by the word “bitch” has no credibility and is a shining example of the type of people who attempted to crush this teacher.
It is offensive. By saying that it isn’t just shows you what an insensitive slob you are.
OK Life cereal, go to any woman at all. Go to the grocery store and say “Bitch, will you please show me where the Life cereal is.” Keep on going across the country and usign that word. See for yourself what results you get.
Better yet, say it at work. Go to your children’s teacher and say “Bitch, how are my children doing in school?”
Now let me introduce you to a book you might not be familiar with, the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
The word “bitch”:
c. Disparaging and Offensive . any woman.
How’s that for credibility ?
It is offensive. By saying that it isn’t just shows you what an insensitive slob you are.
Please come back to the real world, where one the real scale of what matters “bitch”, and other mild words, certainly are not on the top-10 list of “offensive” words.
There are far, FAR more serious issues to contend with in the world. Moaning and crying at the use of the word “bitch” is an exercise in silliness and a complete waste of time and resources.
JohnS
August 17th, 2011
1:50 pm
This sounds like such a ridiculous situation, particularly since she had the highest level of privacy set on her Facebook page. Even so, from the description, the pictures are quite harmless and I can only imagine that there must be many other teachers with similar pictures on their pages. In my view, this is a blemish on Barrow County and it administration. As someone else noted, they are spending time and money to essentially harass this young woman. What a shame!
5150 UOAD
August 17th, 2011
1:51 pm
This case proves why we are so poor in Government School Education. Maybe it is not the teacher or the students. Maybe it is the fact that the parents are too STUPID to have kids and get too much time teaching their kids to be stupid too.
To Conservative
August 17th, 2011
1:52 pm
You wouldn’t dare say the N word in a public forum. The fact you give so little respect to woman says a lot about you and your lack of values.
You disappoint.
Get OFF the Race Thing
August 17th, 2011
1:53 pm
Pink Bunny/This is BS and to anyone that is trying to make this a RACE issue.. IT’s NOT! Everything is not about Black vs. White. This is about Right vs. Wrong and what they are doing to her is clearly Wrong. In the future, try to stick to the topic at hand.
PR
August 17th, 2011
1:55 pm
Obviously Barrow County schols is run by a bunch of ignorant idiots and fools. I hope this goes to trial and the school district loses its as. I think a million dollars would be fair repayment to this teacher for Barrow’s stupidty. Barrown County voters need to take a serious look at who is running their schools and how they are doing it.
To I Love Life Cereal from Good Mother
August 17th, 2011
1:56 pm
Hey Love Life Cereal,
Let me introduce you to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. That should be credible enough for you.
Here’s “bitch”
Disparaging and Offensive . any woman.
Do I need to look up disparaging and offensive for you too?
jes
August 17th, 2011
1:56 pm
For those of you questioning why she resigned, I put it to you this way: If you are suddenly and unexpectedly informed, by superiors that you have up to that point admired and respected and believed had your back, that you are about to be summarily fired for something personal you had no idea could affect your professional life, but they’ll be nice and give you the option of not having to answer “yes” to the question of “have you ever been terminated or fired” on a job application, I would bet you would probably do the same thing, to save some semblance of your career. Hindsight being 20-20, given some time to think things over, a different decision would probably be made.
This girl’s career has been ruined, hopefully not permanently, for no reason at all. I pray for her and just a reminder of something I try to live by: The Lord works in mysterious ways. Everything happens for a reason. She’s not supposed to be teaching there anymore. She may never know why. But something better is waiting for her, she just has to be open to it. It sounds like she is. Good for her.
Ghostrider
August 17th, 2011
1:57 pm
Just curious … Does anyone have any idea how much this has cost the Taxpayers of Barrow County.
rexdogma
August 17th, 2011
1:58 pm
Barrow county is just a bunch of hypocritical idiots!!! The waste of tax dollars & legal fees on this case is just plain stupid, when funding is short. your just short changing your students. any school system would be glad to have this fine young lady on their staff. just plain crazy!!!
sliderule
August 17th, 2011
1:59 pm
Dear Good Mother
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bitch can refer to:
* A female dog
* Bitch (insult), a pejorative term, usually considered profane
* In slang, a complaint
While I have no idea what the referenced game is about, please quit bitching about the “the Saint Pauli’s beer girl”. She seems quite nice.
Jesse Jackson has a scheme for you.......
August 17th, 2011
2:00 pm
TRUST me if this young woman had been black, I would have been on the first private jet ( sorry Barak ) to Atlanta. No school system would get away with treating my people like this…….but since she is white……….let the justice system work folks…………if anything happens to a black teacher down there…yall call me….Right now I am trying to prove that Mrs. Beverly Hall is the greatest Superintendant in the world……
Peace,
Jesse
Dave
August 17th, 2011
2:02 pm
Principle McGee is a ignorant backwoods redneck. His actions define incompetence. If you go to the Appalachee HS web site, every employee’s email address is posted except Redneck McGee. So, not only a backwoods redneck, won’t back it up and hides his email address.On his welcome adress to students this year he promises a World Class Education with Small Town Values. There you have it. Forcing his values on public school students, paid for by public tax dollars. Barrow County citizens should hold McGee accountable. This is no Mayberry for cryin out loud.
pinkbunny
August 17th, 2011
2:04 pm
Excuse me, but I never meant to imply she was being attacked because of her race. The point I was trying to make was that this school board needed only to look a few miles away to see what REAL trouble looked like, in the form of a national scandal. APS must be praying for this story to blow up again; it would certainly help take the heat off the CRCT mess. The Barrow County BOE is wrong, and I suspect they have figured that out by now, but don’t know how to back down gracefully. I hope she sues their socks off.
Coaches go free
August 17th, 2011
2:04 pm
What you do not hear about, is that in February of 2011, Appalachee High School coach Thomas Wallace was arrested by Gwinnett County during a prostitution sting. He works at the same school that Ms Payne taught at, however, the coach was placed on administrative leave with pay. His actions are more cause for dismissal and loss of teaching certificate than Ms Payne’s picture with alcohol. According to the Appalachee High School website, Mr Wallace is still teaching and coaching at the school. Sounds like a sexual discrimination lawsuit on top everything else to me.
Doris M
August 17th, 2011
2:06 pm
It just goes to show that education has done it again. They always go overboard with overkill. There is no sane justice. I hope Ashley rakes Barrow County over the coals monetarily. She deserves some big time compensation.
Bye Bye McGee!
August 17th, 2011
2:07 pm
David McGee has shown extremely poor judgement and should be forced to resign and never hired by another school again.
Dave
August 17th, 2011
2:07 pm
Good Mother, have you never used the word bitch? Then I gues you should be fired too. You must be part of Priciple McGee’s clan of backwoods rednecks.
As for your dictionary, you certainly know the literal meaning of bitch don’t you?
Job Advice from Good Mother
August 17th, 2011
2:08 pm
And just so you know…in case you haven’t heard, human resources at companies routinely look up their job applicants on Face Book and other social media sites. They simply perform a search to see what comes up.
So silly Face Book photos and information on blogs is fair game for all employers. It’s a lot cheaper to perform an Internet search than to pay for back ground check.
So teachers, prospective teachers, students, anyone looking for a job or anyone with a job or anyone who cares about earning a living…keep your personal pictures and thoughts off the web.
Interesting Story
August 17th, 2011
2:08 pm
Hmmm…I was all for her reinstatement and even some punitive damages for wrongful termination until I saw the part where she was a UGA grad! Probably a horrid teacher that normally spent all class on facebook or solitaire.
Dave
August 17th, 2011
2:09 pm
Rumor has it Principle McGee was seen at Swinging Richards this past Saturday.
Maureen Downey
August 17th, 2011
2:09 pm
@To all, Regardless of where you stand on the word “bitch,” our filter will block your post if the word appears. I am freeing the posts as they get blocked, but expect a delay in seeing your comments.
Maureen
Fletch
August 17th, 2011
2:09 pm
Total BS Ashley – if this hasn’t soured your love for teaching then you should be back in the classroom because you obviously care immensely. It saddens me seeing a promising young teacher treated like this, over nothing, while the ATL metro area is run like the mafia. Hang in there.
sliderule
August 17th, 2011
2:10 pm
Good Mother
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
B*tch can refer to:
* A female dog
* B*tch (insult), a pejorative term, usually considered profane
* In slang, a complaint
I have no clue what the referenced game is, but quit showing one defininition, then b*tching about it is not persuave.
(Apparently the AJC blocker doesn’t like “b*tch” in some form) sort of ironic.
Contrast
August 17th, 2011
2:10 pm
APS: Lyiing, cheating, stealing – I guarantee you there will be no real consequences
Barrow: Let you hair down, out of the country – you’re fired
To Slide Rule
August 17th, 2011
2:11 pm
Bitch bingo isn’t for dogs. Your excuse is lame. GM
Bye Bye McGee!
August 17th, 2011
2:11 pm
Hey To I Love Life Cereal from Good Mother .. SHE did not call someone a “bitch” she posted the name of a legitimate event called Crazy Bitch Bingo. She did not name the event and she did not refer to someone as a “bitch” so get over your self-righteous, judgmental and small-minded self.
Pathetic
August 17th, 2011
2:11 pm
What is this 1950? Completely ridiculous!!!!! Whats wrong with having a drink? Its legal!!
Dave
August 17th, 2011
2:13 pm
Theatre Guy….word has it you were with principle McGee at Swinging Richards. God knows we do not want to see YOUR personal photos.
To Dave From GM
August 17th, 2011
2:13 pm
No, Dave, I don’t. I don’t use the N word either and I teach my children by example.
Your vulgar posts say a lot about you.
Amanda
August 17th, 2011
2:13 pm
This is ridiculous.. For one it is huge a waste of taxpayer money over nothing, so what if she had some drinks and got drunk! She was not drinking in school or harming any children and it did not have anything to do with her job. Just because she is a teacher does not mean she can’t be young and go out. Where are her personal rights? This should have NEVER even gotten this far.