Yellow Springs district files suit against former teacher

Yellow Springs Schools has filed a civil suit against a former teacher, alleging she violated terms of a settlement that ended a civil suit the teacher brought against the district in 2014.

The district seeks more than $25,000 in damages in its complaint against Angela Bussey, a former health and physical education teacher, claiming that she violated terms from the April 2015 confidential settlement in which she received money and agreed not to talk about her case publicly, according to the complaint on file with the Greene County Clerk of Courts office.

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The district’s suit claims Bussey used an online profile by the name of “Gela May” on April 1 when she commented in a public forum that she was “bullied and harassed in multiple ways by Tim Krier,” the high school principal who has been on medical leave since March.

The suit further states that under the Gela May profile, Bussey said she was awarded “a large amount of money from Yellow Springs schools to keep it quiet.”

The district’s complaint says claims made by Bussey under the pseudonym are false.

Details of the settlement between Yellow Springs Schools and Bussey have been disclosed as part of this new civil suit. The settlement indicates that the district agreed to pay Bussey $20,000; remove documents in her personnel file relevant to Bussey’s complaint and provide a letter of recommendation from Superintendent Mario Basora, according to records on file with the clerk of courts.

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In return, Bussey was to resign from her teaching role with Yellow Springs Schools at the end of the 2013-2014 school year, and the district was to be completely absolved of any wrongdoing, according to the court records.

Bussey’s suit against the district was filed in 2014. In it, she claimed Krier had a “demeaning management style toward women,” and with Basora’s endorsement, they ran a “good old boys club” that created a “hostile work environment” in which females were treated unfairly, according to Bussey’s original complaint on file with the clerk of courts.

Bussey was hired by Yellow Springs Schools from the Xenia school district for the 2013-2014 school year, according to district records. She claims in the suit that she became a “target of Krier” because she “dared to ask for professional development” that was denied, according to the 2014 suit.

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Bussey has retained counsel from Dayton-based attorney David Duwel. He said he is still reviewing the case and declined to comment at this time.

Basora said he cannot comment on pending litigation.

A message seeking comment from the district’s attorney, Pramila Kamath, based in West Chester Twp., Butler County, was not immediately returned.

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