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
sliderule
August 17th, 2011
3:22 pm
GOOD MOTHER
I commiserate with your indignation of current mores. I also was shocked when my college profs said screwed as in “you were screwed by that test”. That was 50 years ago.
Please don’t listen to hip hop or “urban music” or you might have a heart attack. Bitch would be the least of your concerns. But I digress.
What exactly should she apologize for?
Ernest
August 17th, 2011
3:23 pm
Maureen, thanks for the additional information on what allegedly happened. From a PR standpoint, one would think Barrow County would reinstate her and ask that she holds the principal ‘harmless’ with this incident. As HREdu suggests, they may have gone to far to consider this now.
Lee
August 17th, 2011
3:25 pm
Well, if she doesn’t get satisfaction in the courts, there is always this: (pay attention to the last verse)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzU9FgNTYrU&feature=related
Money Matters Update
August 17th, 2011
3:27 pm
Dual Standard?
Hall has Big time criminal defense attorney Rick Deane. You would think Hall is accused of pushing narcotics instead of test scores. Rest assure she or somebody is paying through the nose.
UPDATE:
Hey, I just read APS (taxpayers) is paying the bill: Milk ‘em dry Rick. This is better than a big heroin case…unlimited billable hours.
BeeKayCro
August 17th, 2011
3:31 pm
Just heard that the principal involved is stepping down. Hopefully she will get her job back. In Barrow County it’s not WHAT you know, but WHO you know.
cobb mom of 4
August 17th, 2011
3:32 pm
As much as I hate to admit it this case highlights why the APS teachers and principals that didn’t resign are probably doing the right thing for their careers. Even the ones that are obviously guilty. Hopefully the guilty ones will be shown the door after due process. This young lady allowed someone to intimidate her into resigning. Never resign, let them fire you.
Pink
August 17th, 2011
3:37 pm
So, the school system is fascist. Nothing new here.
Dave
August 17th, 2011
3:42 pm
To Slide Rule: I guess we won’t see you at Hooters anytime soon. Too bad. The Samari wings are really tasty…. and my wife, a teacher with Cobb County…….. ‘patronizes’ them. And…….it sounds like you have some private pictures you are ashamed to share….can we see a few? Oh…I see…..if it’s private and no one knows about it it changes your character. I see.
Me: you are on point. No one took 10 minutes to id the IP address on the email. Simple task.
LawDawg: Not sure what you meant to share with me…,your post was in toungues.
Dave
August 17th, 2011
3:44 pm
BeeKayCro- if this is true, this is outstanding news. McGee should seek emplyment at the Barrow County Land Fill. His leadership competencies are GARBAGE!
Sneakers O'Toole
August 17th, 2011
3:44 pm
SlideRule, I am not offended at all by a glass of wine or cursing. I do not think she should have lost her job and I think she may be entitled to some fiscal satisfaction.
I’m pretty well versed in facial recognition and understand that other people can post photos of me on social networking sites, but the difference here is that she posted it. It was her representation of herself. If someone else had posted the photos/language in question then this would be a different story all together.
sliderule
August 17th, 2011
3:59 pm
DAVE
Learn to read or comprehend what you read.
Sneakers O’Toole
“the photos/language in question”
I repeat. What exactly should she apologize for? (My apologies to the grammar police)
HREdu
August 17th, 2011
4:00 pm
Maureen. I understand Constructive Discharge very well.
It will not apply in this case under current school law. A probationary teacher has no due process rights. People in education in this state do not have the same protections as in other fields. There is a whole set of specific rules and laws for educators.
From what you posted of the statements I don’t believe that any of that would constitute Constructive Discharge anyway unless there is a prior pattern of behavior on McGee’s part towards Payne. He said she said from what has been presented.
Lawdawg – please specify where I’m wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying I think it is right and good. The laws need to be looked at and changed. Don’t see that happening with our current legislators though. Maybe the AJC should do some investigating and air it out.
The only thing notable at all here is the Facebook angle to be honest. This sort of thing happens a lot.
Sid C
August 17th, 2011
4:01 pm
Its the Gwinnett Way…..
Dave
August 17th, 2011
4:05 pm
Slider rule……………………so thats a no on Hooters?
Dave
August 17th, 2011
4:08 pm
So slider genius…If I were to say “Nice Hooters” referring to a restaurant ….that would constitute foul language. Wow. I gues you were behing the renaming of Po Folks.
400 Lb Gorilla
August 17th, 2011
4:10 pm
If I had to deal with the little terrors all school year, I would be double-fisted drinking too!
I think I will have a drink in her honor later today!
Dave
August 17th, 2011
4:11 pm
HREdu, LawDawg, and Slider Rule….jsut curious, are the 3 of you billing your clints hours while you share you knowledge of Georgia law om AJC blogs. Or are the clients that got injured in an accident with a “big truck” at the social security office today?
Mike S
August 17th, 2011
4:13 pm
Every time I read a post from Good Mother, I get the image of the always judgemental “Church Lady” in my head. Can’t you see GM saying, “Well, Ashley Payne, aren’t you SPECIAL……”?
Dave
August 17th, 2011
4:15 pm
OOOOOPs…its after 4 pm, our barristers in residence HREdu, Law Dawg And Slippery Slider Rule have clocked out and gone to the bar.
Sad Day
August 17th, 2011
4:17 pm
I am sorry that the proverbial race card has been played on this blog. In Georgia it has nothing to do with race in education. Teachers are a hated species here for some odd reason. I heard that it is happening in other states, also. I admit that some teachers are obnoxious people, but most of us care deeply about the welfare of the children. It will take a power greater than Jesse Jackson to help any teacher here. Those who keep referring to those 200 educators in APS need to know that there are probably many more than those 200 educators.Those outside of APS do not even have a clue at all!!Those cheaters are still getting paid and are still getting due process.However, this is about Ashley and how she has been wronged by Barrow County. This exhibits a culture of corruption that exists statewide. APS is not the only corrupt system in Georgia. (DEKALB,FULTON,CLAYTON are not the only corrupt systems either.)
HREdu
August 17th, 2011
4:18 pm
One other quick point. A school principal does NOT have the authority to fire a teacher. Any administrator knows that as should all teachers. All they can do is recommend. Same with hiring.
Dave
August 17th, 2011
4:29 pm
HREdu-you live in La LA land if you think a Principle in Georgia, through “proper” channels, can not 86 a teacher. And, I’m sure in your world Lucky Charms are magically delicious.
Sam
August 17th, 2011
4:32 pm
Since whe is it illegal to enjoy a glass of wine or beer at sports bar while on vacation? You people need to let up and get a LIFE!!!!!!! As for the Facebook page, get real…..who doesn’t have one? No obscenes posted their, sounds like jealousey lurking here……Hope you well Ashley
DLink
August 17th, 2011
4:32 pm
Notice that the author here capitalized Crazy Bitch Bingo. That’s because it’s a proper noun, aka the name of a specific thing. It’s like saying, “Let’s play Yahtzee!” It is literally the name of the game played.
In addition, had she called it something like Crazy Bingo, all of her Bingo GFs would likely have immediately corrected her. Sad that she has a backstabber friended in facebook looking to damage her career. We need to keep the best available people in the few jobs left, especially teaching, to bring economic recovery and more jobs for others along the way. This is the “rain” I pray for, and I’m seeing the love, but, not the actions.
Tired of Foolishness
August 17th, 2011
4:36 pm
This is such crap. You have teachers out there sleeping with students and having babies with them and other administrators who steal and she gets treated this way? What a waste of time and money. What about a decent education for our children. It’s so sad that some petty people would stoop so low to destroy others.
Dave
August 17th, 2011
4:38 pm
Thinking of T-Shirts and a Web Site…..”Free Ashley’s Payne”
File Slavery Charges
August 17th, 2011
4:45 pm
This teacher’s lawyer needs to demand pay for overtime, or file charges against slavery for a policy like this – having a public profile. Forcing someone to live under a hood for the rest of their hours for fear of a lawsuit should constitute indentured unpaid servitude – because Miss Teacher was basically extorted into keeping out of the public eye through the standing threat against her job should she go public. She should also be awarded overtime pay for all hours she had off from work, as she was fired for “failure to do the other part of her job – which is keep out of the public forums.”
File Slavery Charges
August 17th, 2011
4:48 pm
Correction to above: she was pressured to resign through statements of the Board’s possible intent to fire her should she not resign. These people should be sued, also, for infliction of emotional distress, BUT, there was no physical damages, so she could not collect. GRrrr.
The 411
August 17th, 2011
4:51 pm
Leave this lady alone, she well within her rights.
The APS board may have agreed to pay Hall’s legal bills, but do they have to consent to a big time, expensive criminal lawyer. Can the board choose the lawyer, one that does not charge $380 per hour? Someone please help me with an answer.
Lucretia
August 17th, 2011
5:01 pm
I don’t know many teachers that don’t take a drink every now and then. This is crazy. She should be able to teach.
clanmack
August 17th, 2011
5:07 pm
It is clear that this teacher did no wrong. What is equally clear is that the superintendent did no right. Here we go again, “the powers that be” do the wrong thing, hurt someone unnecessarily, then take their little selves somewhere else, along with their end-on-contract bonuses and ride off into the sunset. The school board should step in and do the right thing and make the current superintendent implement it-back pay to the end of her contract, exoneration of her employment records and a deliriously great letter of recommendation.
@ pinkbunny’s comments re: Beverly Hall-agreed and hopefully the current grand jury proceedings will lead to criminal indictments. Her 3rd in command has already lost her superintendents position in Texas as fall out from the cheating scandal.
Maureen Downey
August 17th, 2011
5:25 pm
To all, The principal in this case is retiring after 25 years with Barrow.
http://www.barrowjournal.com/archives/5589-Apalachees-McGee-stepping-down.html
Former History Teacher
August 17th, 2011
5:27 pm
@clanmack – I agree.
As a former teacher, I had to pay for professional liability insurance through my teacher’s organization to cover legal expenses that may result from a law suit. But my policy did not cover accusations of a felonious nature. I would have been responsible.
At what point does APS bear no responsibility? Lying/Obstructing Justice/Destroying Documents/Conspiring to Interfere with an Investigation…all felonies. What if Hall had allegedly sexually assaulted a teacher. Would APS pay her legal fees? Her case and legal fees at 380 an hour could drag on for ever.
Jennifer
August 17th, 2011
5:36 pm
I am a public school teacher and I must be missing something. Is it illegal for teachers to have a glass of wine or beer or alcohol? Is using profanity illegal, too? I am so confused as to why this is even a case that has to have a hearing.
John Brown
August 17th, 2011
5:42 pm
Sounds like some prude at some church got her panties in a bunch because a teacher has a real life. One that doesn’t revolve around judging everyone, like all the knuckle draggers it sounds like still inhabit Barrow. This intelligent, urbane, cultured woman gets bullied, illegally, mind you, by a bunch of ignorant inbred hicks into resigning. That’s disgusting and inane. This is why most intelligent people move away from Georgia or move to Atlanta. We don’t to be around dolts, bigots, and their idiotic ever-so-entitled seed. I can’t wait to see the look on your faces when you find out you wasted your life, listening to your preachers instead of actually being a follower of Jesus. Because, for most Christians, it’s just another title. It has so very, very little to do with anything Jesus was. Don’t mess yourselves in 2012. Just keep judging everyone. And marrying your cousins.
sickofthehypocrisy
August 17th, 2011
5:43 pm
A no basis in fact complaint from an anonymous source and a person is forced to resign or be fired from a job. This is what we want to teach our children? So it is ok to bully someone on the internet but get away with it by using a fake name? A powerful person uses his power to bully a novice employee with “information” on the possible catastrophic action if she doesn’t immediately resign without being allowed a little time to investigate and refute the charges? And a judge takes a narrowly defined review of the case brought to him instead of treating this matter with common sense, and judiciousness? Saying an administrator is always right is what got APS into the situation they are in now. No one challenged Hall or her minions and they held sway with intimidation and retribution. Our learned attorneys lending the rest of us their wisdom exemplify why the legal system is held in such low esteem. Not one of them put forth any sane, just, common sense, or fair reason to support Barrow County. And this will just increase the country administration’s sense that they can do anything they want to anyone. There is no way a sane, intelligent person can defend or explain this travesty. And this points out a lesson for the GAE; before a person gets his/her teaching certificate there needs to be indepth education into how to handle this kind of situation, what the legal alternatives are, and how to immediately contact a legal rep. And I don’t care how they worded the APS administrators’ contracts; there is no justification for paying for a defense against criminal acts against the school system, parents, and students. Criminal acts should immediately void contracts and absolve systems from payment for any legal action. We don’t need ethics classes or showboating attorneys; we have common sense and get what is right and what isn’t.
llf
August 17th, 2011
5:46 pm
Meddling in a teacher’s private life, threatening and intimidating a teacher to resign based upon her non-job related behavior (which behavior is perfectly lawful and non-offensive), raising fraudulent claims regarding a student’s “involvement”, and wasting significant school system resources litigating over such an idiotic issue. This type of conduct can cause a school to lose its accreditation.
Bone
August 17th, 2011
6:13 pm
Go to any middle or high school and you will get an ear-full of curse words just between classes. As for pictures of MS/HS girls/guys on Facebook, and some of the parents of these kids, they need to delete them quickly. Apparently they will not get teaching jobs in the future!!
femgineer
August 17th, 2011
6:14 pm
This is so ridiculous, to waste energy and resources on defending the actions of the principle and vice principle that conspired against Ms. Payne. Their actions were already planned and scripted before she was ambushed at the front door of the school. She resigned because she was coerced by the two that were supposed to be knowledgeable professionals. It is really sad that she was wrong to trust them.
The judge should start with this supposed anonymous e-mail then work from both ends to the middle. investigate the “out of office” socializing of the principle and his cohort on one end and the “social network” of the teacher that wound up with Ms. Payne’s position on the other and connect the networks to find out what really happened.
Just Sayin
August 17th, 2011
6:18 pm
My comment is awaiting moderation! Why? All I said was, “To bad she’s white! Otherwise this case would have been resolved 20 months ago and she’d have been awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars with the help of Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson!
Just sayin that’s how it is in Blaclanta!”
What needs moderation here? What isn’t true?
American Citizen
August 17th, 2011
6:35 pm
What about the school boad when they go out and drink?
Vetta
August 17th, 2011
6:37 pm
“@ This is bs
Who gives a crap about her race. Wrong is wrong. She should be reinstated immediately. Case closed. Quit injecting race and politics into everything.”
St. John–I agree with you. I bet people like bs goes to bed thinking about African-Americans, then have dreams about them; wake up the next morning before they hit the floor thinking about them and then take a nap during the day and dream about them again–well, I can keep going but you get my drift.
Vetta
August 17th, 2011
6:41 pm
“My comment is awaiting moderation! Why? All I said was, “To bad she’s white! Otherwise this case would have been resolved 20 months ago and she’d have been awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars with the help of Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson!
Just sayin that’s how it is in Blaclanta!”
What needs moderation here? What isn’t true?”
–You mad huh? On behalf of black people everywhere, THANK YOU for keeping us on your mind 24/7.
Just Sayin
August 17th, 2011
6:53 pm
@ vetta – not mad at all, just sad that it is always about race in ATL. ALWAYS! Nothing has changed since Dr. King, just that “African” Americans in positions of power have done everyone of every race a disservice with their actions – Atlanta Public Schools, Fulton County, City of Atlanta, DeKalb County Commission, DeKalb School Board……..its all about the color.
Ricardo Cabeza
August 17th, 2011
7:02 pm
Ashley,
Get your Masters in Ed. and go where you will be appreciated for the selfless person (teacher) you truly are. Barrow County, GA is not that place and will never be! With rampant ignorance, incest, and “bumpkin-ism” it is nothing more than a seething cesspool of educational hopelessness. . . and take ‘em by the bank for a large withdrawal on your way out. All the best to you, my dear!
Batgirl
August 17th, 2011
7:08 pm
@Observer, 2:35 p.m.–Again, Georgia has no teachers’ unions; we have associations. However, many young teachers are discouraged from joining them, especially GAE and MACE (both of which actually provide help to teachers in trouble). Even some older teachers think they will never find themselves in a situation in which they need the legal help that these organizations can provide. However, even if Ms. Payne was smart enough to join an organization, and you do have to join to receive their help, it sounds like she was intimidated by her principal and did not have time to seek help from the outside.
I wish Ms. Payne the best of luck and hope she will be able to teach again.
John Brown
August 17th, 2011
7:38 pm
Ever notice how racists never ever put their names, they always hide behind some alias like JUST SAYIN like the cowards and intellectual peanuts they are? Oh, you poor oppressed white people. And, I’m white! You guys always inject race into another situation in which it is completley irrelevant to the issue at hand. Instead of blaming another race for your failure, just face the fact that you’re a failure. It’s you, your laziness, your inability to eveolve and grow, and your defective family genes, clearly, that put you where you are. Now pop another hotpocketr into your face and go zone out to the boob tube. We know you will. Just sayin…
ramguy68
August 17th, 2011
7:53 pm
This is stupid no matter how you try to spin it..Good Lord who would ever think that teachers are people too???? I don’t understand all the fussing about the word B*tch. While it can be offensive, it’s not like she called somebody one. I wouldn’t be surprised if this WAS NOT the work of someone with an axe to grind. It’s probably more like someone or a group of people who just enjoy telling other people they can’t do something. We have become a country of snitches. God I hate snitches.
Just Sayin
August 17th, 2011
8:07 pm
@ “John Brown”, like that’s your real name! Look in the mirror. You want to challenge me intellectually? Game on. Don’t come to a gun fight with a knife…….Just sayin’…………..
truth and nothing but the truth
August 17th, 2011
8:23 pm
Shame on the School Board for not requiring the accuser to come face to face in making the accusation – emails are cheap. The Principal should have told the damn parent to mind his/her own business – shame on the Principal for not having the gonads to do the right thing mainly because he is a robot of the county policies.Ms. Payne will be better off not teaching in the Barrow district. I know Ms. Payne will be successful elsewhere.