Teacher’s suit alleges he was forced out for producing controversial play
The Oregonian reports that Wade Willis, formerly a teacher and the theater director at Southridge High School (SHS) in Beaverton, Oregon, has brought a wrongful discharge suit in state court against the Beaverton School District, seeking $125,000 in damages and claiming the district created an unfit working environment that forced him to resign. He alleges he was “harassed, intimidated and humiliated” for attempting to produce “The Laramie Project,” a play about the 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo. The suit claims Principal Amy Gordon disciplined him for failing to follow the school's review procedures, even though he followed the policy. Ms. Gordon halted the production, citing profanity and sexual content. Groups of parents, students, and teachers discussed and debated the play's content while gay-rights activists and members of an anti-gay church weighed in. Eventually, a play committee voted 7-4 to produce the play, provided: (1) parents gave their children permission to audition; and (2) play posters and tickets warned that the play contained mature subject matter. Mr. Willis resigned at the end of the school year. His suit contends the play did not contain any sexual content and that the play's author, Moises Kaufman, had authorized revisions to remove profanity. Michael Vergamini, Mr. Willis' attorney, argues a wrongful discharge suit can be filed, even when the employee resigns, if an employer “maintained specific working conditions so intolerable” that a person would resign. “At a fundamental level, this lawsuit is about a controversial play” Mr. Vergamini said.
Source: Oregonian, 7/2/08, By Melissa Navas