Pursuant to notice, a final hearing was held in this case on April 14, 2010, in Clearwater, Florida, before Susan B. Harrell, a designated Administrative Law Judge of the Division of Administrative Hearings.
For Petitioner: Bruce P. Taylor, Esquire
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704
For Respondent: Robert F. McKee, Esquire
Kelly & McKee, P.A.
The issues in this case are whether Respondent violated Subsections 1012.795(1)(c), 1012.795(1)(f)), and 1012.795(1)(i),
Rule 6B-1.006(5)(d), and, if so, what discipline should be imposed.
On June 5, 2009, Petitioner, Dr. Eric J. Smith, as Commissioner of Education, issued an Administrative Complaint against Respondent, Christopher James Jefferson (Mr. Jefferson), alleging that Mr. Jefferson violated Subsections 1012.795(1)(d), 1012.795(1)(g), and 1012.795(1)(j), Florida Statutes,2 and Florida Administrative Code Rule 6B-1.006(5)(d). Mr. Jefferson requested an administrative hearing, and the case was forwarded to the Division of Administrative Hearings on December 16, 2009.
The final hearing was scheduled for March 3 and 4, 2010. On February 9, 2010, Respondent filed an Unopposed Motion to Continue Final Hearing, which was granted. The final hearing was rescheduled to commence on April 14, 2010.
The parties filed a Pre-hearing Stipulation, in which they stipulated to the accuracy of paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Administrative Complaint.
At the final hearing, Petitioner called the following witnesses: Stephanie Bennett, Elizabeth Cannon, James Lott, Wayne McKnight, Elaine Navas, William Peters, Christy Wolfe, and Edward Vermere. Petitioner’s Exhibits 1 through 4 were admitted in evidence.
At the final hearing, Respondent testified in his own behalf and called Garrison Linder and Judy Allen as his witnesses. Respondent did not submit any exhibits for admission in evidence.
The one-volume Transcript of the final hearing was filed on May 5, 2010. The parties agreed at the final hearing that the parties would submit their proposed recommended orders within ten days of the filing of the Transcript. On May 19, 2010, Respondent filed Respondent’s Unopposed Emergency Motion to File Proposed Recommended Order Out of Time. The motion was granted by Order dated May 19, 2010, and the time for filing proposed recommended orders was extended to June 1, 2010. The parties timely filed their Proposed Recommended Orders, which have been considered in the preparation of this Recommended Order.
Mr. Jefferson holds Florida Educator
Certificate 922324, covering the areas of Educational Leadership and Social Science, which is valid through June 30, 2013.
At all times pertinent to the allegations in the Administrative Complaint, Mr. Jefferson was employed as a social studies teacher at Tarpon Springs High School in the Pinellas County School District.
In 2003, Mr. Jefferson became romantically involved with Elaine Navas (Ms. Navas), who was a teacher at Tarpon
Springs High School. At the time that the relationship began, Ms. Navas was married and in the process of getting a divorce. It was agreed that the relationship would not become public while Ms. Navas was still married.
The relationship lasted about a year and ended in January 2005, when Ms. Navas got her final divorce decree and settlement. The termination of their relationship was by mutual agreement. However, Mr. Jefferson continued to insinuate himself into Ms. Navas’ life.
Mr. Jefferson would come to Ms. Navas’ classroom and ask her for sex or money. Ms. Navas started locking her classroom door in an attempt to prevent Mr. Jefferson from coming into her classroom uninvited. Mr. Jefferson started entering Ms. Navas’ classroom by going through the connecting classroom of another teacher.
Mr. Jefferson would pressure Ms. Navas to have sex with him by twisting her arm behind her back and pushing her against a wall both at school and at her home. Mr. Jefferson injured Ms. Navas’ arm by twisting it to the extent that Ms. Navas consulted an orthopedic surgeon and had eight weeks of physical therapy. He would also grab her hair and wrap it around his hand so that she could not move. Sometimes he would put his hands around her throat and push her into a corner. At times,
he would throw her on the bed and put a pillow over her face until she stopped moving.
After the relationship ended, Mr. Jefferson would go to Ms. Navas’ home unannounced, and Ms. Navas would tell him not to come back to her home. Mr. Jefferson did not comply with
Ms. Navas’ request and continued to go to her house.
Mr. Jefferson would make comments to her such as, “you’ll never keep me out of your house.”
Mr. Jefferson’s actions toward Ms. Navas affected her teaching. She became shaky, nervous, jumpy, and irritable with the students because she felt she was under constant pressure from Mr. Jefferson and was stressed by not knowing what he would do next.
Ms. Navas continued to have sex with Mr. Jefferson after the relationship ended because he either wore her resistance down and she felt that having sex with him would stop his harassment or he forced her to have sex with him. Sometimes they had sex at her house and, on occasion, would spend a weekend at a hotel at the beach.
Wayne McKnight (Mr. McKnight) has been the assistant principal at Tarpon Springs High School for the past eight years. Ms. Navas was a friend of Mr. McKnight through their mutual involvement in the band boosters. Ms. Navas shared her
concerns with Mr. McKnight about Mr. Jefferson’s harassing behavior.
Ms. Navas realized that she was in an abusive relationship with Mr. Jefferson. She taught a women’s study course for the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school years. In the course, she was teaching students the signs to look for in an abusive relationship. As a result of teaching the women’s study course, she finally worked up the courage to do something about her relationship with Mr. Jefferson.
On March 31, 2008, Ms. Navas met with the principal of Tarpon Springs High School, Edward Vermere (Mr. Vermere), to discuss her situation with Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Vermere asked her to write a statement detailing her complaints against
Mr. Jefferson. Ms. Navas complied and gave Mr. Vermere a written statement dated April 21, 2008.
Prior to June 5, 2008, William Peters (Detective Peters), a detective with the Tarpon Springs Police Department, had been informed by the school resource officers at Tarpon Springs High School of Ms. Navas’ allegations against
Mr. Jefferson. Detective Peters started an investigation of the allegations.
At 7:52 a.m. on June 5, 2008, Ms. Navas was at home asleep in her bed. She received a telephone call from
Mr. McKnight. While Ms. Navas was talking to Mr. McKnight, she
looked up, and Mr. Jefferson entered her bedroom. She had not invited him to come to her home, but Mr. Jefferson had entered through an unlocked side door. While still on the telephone with Mr. McKnight, she asked Mr. Jefferson how he had gotten into her home and frantically told him several times to leave. Mr. Jefferson left her house. Mr. McKnight told Ms. Navas to call Mr. Vermere.
Ms. Navas called Mr. Vermere, who told her to call Detective Peters. She placed a frantic call to Detective Peters, who called the school resource officers to go to her home to check on her.
Detective Peters interviewed Mr. Jefferson in Mr. Vermere’s office at the high school. Before Detective
Peters began to question Mr. Jefferson, he advised Mr. Jefferson of his Miranda rights. Mr. Jefferson told Detective Peters that he had entered Ms. Navas’ home without her permission and that in the past Ms. Navas had told him to leave her alone and stay away from her residence. Mr. Jefferson told Detective Peters that he gone to Ms. Navas’ home on that day to bring her a muffin and to tell her how sorry he was for the way things had gone on between them. Mr. Jefferson was arrested for stalking. An article appeared in the local newspaper about Mr. Jefferson’s arrest.
At the final hearing, Mr. Jefferson testified that he had gone to Ms. Navas’ home to tell her good morning and to see what she was doing. He had on his mind that they might discuss why Ms. Navas had not been selected for the discipline committee. Mr. Jefferson’s testimony giving his reasons for his being at Ms. Navas’ home on June 5, 2008, is not credible.
After interviewing Mr. Jefferson and approximately three hours after the incident at Ms. Navas’ home, Detective Peters interviewed Ms. Navas. She was still distraught and appeared to Detective Peters to be genuinely concerned about her safety and the safety of her family.
Ms. Navas filed a Petition for Injunction for Protection Against Repeat Violence against Mr. Jefferson. A Temporary Injunction for Protection Against Repeat Violence was issued on June 9, 2008, prohibiting Mr. Jefferson from having contact with Ms. Navas and prohibiting Mr. Jefferson from committing acts of violence against Ms. Navas.
Mr. Jefferson agreed not to contest the entry of permanent injunction prohibiting contact with and acts of a violence against Ms. Navas. In exchange, Ms. Navas agreed to drop the stalking charges for which Mr. Jefferson was arrested. A permanent injunction against Mr. Jefferson was entered on June 19, 2008, and the stalking charges were dropped.
Michelle Deweerd (Ms. Deweerd) taught at Tarpon Springs High School during the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school years. In April 2007, Ms. Deweerd entered into a personal, non- sexual relationship with Mr. Jefferson. She told Mr. Jefferson at the beginning of the relationship that she did not want a sexual relationship, and, at first, he agreed to such an arrangement. The relationship lasted about a month and a half.
While at the public library in Tarpon Springs, Mr. Jefferson touched Ms. Deweerd’s leg. She drew away from him, and he told her that she would have to get used to him touching her. On several occasions, Mr. Jefferson told
Ms. Deweerd that he “gets what he wants.”
Mr. Jefferson would make inappropriate remarks to Ms. Deweerd such as asking her bra size and whether she wore thong underwear. One time when they were talking on the telephone, Ms. Deweerd advised him that she was doing her laundry. Mr. Jefferson told her, “Be careful with your underwear, you never know what might take it.”
Ms. Deweerd told Mr. Jefferson that she did not want any kind of physical contact at school. Several times,
Mr. Jefferson asked Ms. Deweerd to kiss him at school, and each time she declined.
On May 23, 2007, Mr. Jefferson was helping Ms. Deweerd pack up her classroom materials for the close of the school
year. He touched Ms. Deweerd on her arm, and she shuddered. He said he thought it was cute that Ms. Deweerd was so nervous.
Later that day, Mr. Jefferson returned to her classroom and moved to kiss Ms. Deweerd. She told him, “Don’t,” and
Mr. Jefferson replied, “Don’t tell me what to do.”
Mr. Jefferson grabbed Ms. Deweerd’s face and kissed despite her protests. She told Mr. Jefferson that she did not want to have any relationship at all with him.
Ms. Deweerd had planned to go to Michigan to spend her summer break. She was so upset by Mr. Jefferson’s kiss, that she cancelled an outing with friends so that she could pack and leave for Michigan.
After Ms. Deweerd informed Mr. Jefferson that she did not want to have relationship with him, Mr. Jefferson began to call Ms. Deweerd. He called her 15 times during a 12-hour period, but she would not return his calls. He came to her home uninvited and began yelling at her through the door. He was angry because she had not returned his telephone calls.
The day after Mr. Jefferson came to her house uninvited, Ms. Deweerd took her car to the repair shop to be serviced for her trip to Michigan. She rode her bicycle home from the repair shop. As she was getting near her home, she spied a pair of her underwear in the middle of the street. The
evidence does not establish that Mr. Jefferson had taken the underwear.
While Ms. Deweerd was in Michigan, she received numerous telephone calls from an unknown caller. She contacted the Michigan police, who in turn contacted the Tarpon Springs police. The calls were never traced to Mr. Jefferson, and the evidence does not establish that he made the calls.
After Ms. Deweerd returned to Tarpon Springs High School for the 2007-2008 school year, she felt uncomfortable working in the same school with Mr. Jefferson. She shared her concerns with Mr. McKnight, who told her to talk to Mr. Vermere. She did talk to Mr. Vermere early in the fall of 2007, but did not reveal Mr. Jefferson’s name.
Ms. Deweerd felt so uncomfortable around
Mr. Jefferson, that she sometimes was scared to go home and spent the night at the home of Stephanie Bennett (Ms. Bennett), another teacher at Tarpon Springs High School, and her husband. Ms. Deweerd told Ms. Bennett about her fears concerning
Mr. Jefferson, and, to Ms. Bennett, Ms. Deweerd appeared visibly scared.
Ms. Deweerd returned to Michigan for the Christmas break in 2007. When she returned home, she found the light in her bedroom on. She walked to church the day after she returned home from Michigan and found a black pair of her underwear on
the side of the road in the dirt. There is no direct evidence that Mr. Jefferson took the underwear and placed it in the dirt.
Ms. Deweerd went to talk to Mr. Vermere after the latest underwear incident. He asked her to give a written statement, which she did. Neither Ms. Navas nor Ms. Deweerd was aware that the other had been asked to give a statement.
Neither was aware that Mr. Jefferson had been harassing the other.
As a result of the incidents with Mr. Jefferson and Ms. Navas and Ms. Deweerd, the Pinellas County School District reprimanded Mr. Jefferson and transferred him to Carwise Middle School. Ms. Deweerd did not continue her employment with Pinellas County School District for the 2008-2009 school year, but returned to Michigan.
Mr. Jefferson has had no disciplinary problems since being transferred to Carwise Middle School. His work performance at Carwise Middle School has been good. The principal and the seventh-grade administrator at Carwise Middle School are pleased with his work.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the parties to and the subject matter of this proceeding. §§ 120.569 and 120.57, Fla. Stat. (2009).
Petitioner has the burden to establish the allegations in the Administrative Complaint by clear and convincing evidence. Department of Banking and Finance v. Osborne Stern and Company, 670 So. 2d 932 (Fla. 1996).
Petitioner has alleged that Mr. Jefferson has violated the following provisions of Subsection 1012.795(1), Florida Statutes:
The Education Practices Commission may suspend the educator certificate of any person as defined in s. 1012.01(2) or (3) for a period of time not to exceed 5 years, thereby denying that person the right to teach or otherwise be employed by a district school board or public school in any capacity requiring direct contact with students for that period of time, after which the holder may return to teaching as provided in subsection (4); may revoke the educator certificate of any person, thereby denying that person the right to teach or otherwise be employed by a district school board or public school in any capacity requiring direct contact with students for a period of time not to exceed 10 years, with reinstatement subject to the provisions of subsection (4); may revoke permanently the educator certificate of any person thereby denying that person the right to teach or otherwise be employed by a district school board or public school in any capacity requiring direct contact with students; may suspend the educator certificate, upon order of the court, of any person found to have a delinquent child support obligation; or may impose any other penalty provided by law, provided it can be shown that the person:
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(c) Has been guilty of gross immorality or an act involving moral turpitude.
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(f) Upon investigation, has been found guilty of personal conduct which seriously reduces that person's effectiveness as an employee of the district school board.
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(i) Has violated the Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession prescribed by State Board of Education rules.
Petitioner has also alleged that Mr. Jefferson has violated Florida Administrative Code Rule 6B-1.006(5)(d), which provides that a teacher “shall not engage in harassment or discriminatory conduct which unreasonably interferes with an individual’s performance of professional or work responsibilities or with the orderly processes of education or which creates a hostile, intimidating, abusive, offensive, or oppressive environment; and, further, shall make reasonable effort to assure that each individual is protected from such harassment or discrimination.” Florida Administrative Code Rule 6B-1.006(5) is part of the Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida. Fla. Admin. Code R. 6B-1.006(1).
Petitioner has established by clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Jefferson violated Subsection 1012.795(1)(c),
Florida Statutes. The terms “gross immorality” and “moral turpitude” are not defined in the context of Section 1012.795, Florida Statutes, but guidance may be found in Florida Administrative Code Rule 6B-4.009, which provides the basis for charges upon which dismissal action by the school districts against instructional personnel may be taken. Florida Administrative Code Rule 6B-4.009 provides:
(2) Immorality is defined as conduct that is inconsistent with the standards of public conscience and good morals. It is conduct sufficiently notorious to bring the individual concerned or the education profession into public disgrace or disrespect and impair the individual’s service in the community.
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(6) Moral turpitude is a crime that is evidenced by an act of baseness, vileness or depravity in the private and social duties, which, according to the accepted standards of the time a man owes to his or her fellow man or to society in general, and the doing of the act itself and not its prohibition by statute fixes the moral turpitude.
“Moral turpitude” has also been defined by the Florida Supreme Court as follows:
Moral turpitude involves the idea of inherent baseness or depravity in the private social relations or duties owed by man to man or by man to society. It has also been defined as anything done contrary to justice, honesty, principle, or good morals, though, it often involves the question of intent as when unintentionally
committed through error of judgment when wrong was not contemplated.
State ex rel. Tullidge v. Hollingsworth, 146 So. 660, 661 (Fla. 1933).
Mr. Jefferson is guilty of acts of moral turpitude.
The harassment of the teachers, the unwanted and unwarranted advances made by Mr. Jefferson, and the physical violence toward Ms. Navas constitute acts of moral turpitude.
Mr. Jefferson has committed acts of gross immorality by his actions toward Ms. Navas. He committed physical violence toward her; he stalked her; and he came to her home uninvited after being asked not to come to her house. He was arrested for stalking, which was reported in the local newspaper. A permanent restraining order was entered against him. He had to be transferred to another school. Impairment of a teacher’s effectiveness can be inferred from such conduct. See Purvis v. Marion County School Board, 766 So. 2d 492 (Fla. 5th DCA 200); Walker v. Highlands County School Board, 752 So. 2d 127 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000).
Petitioner has established by clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Jefferson violated Subsection 1012.795(1)(f), Florida Statutes. His conduct toward Ms. Navas and Ms. Deweerd was so offensive and intimidating that they could no longer work at the same school with Mr. Jefferson, and he was transferred to
another school. Mr. Jefferson’s personal conduct reduced his effectiveness as an employee of the Pinellas County School District at Tarpon Springs High School.
Petitioner has established by clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Jefferson violated Florida Administrative Code Rule 6B-1.006(5)(d) and, thereby, violated Subsection 1012.795(1)(i), Florida Statutes. Mr. Jefferson’s unwanted attentions and harassment created an intimidating, hostile, and oppressive workplace for Ms. Deweerd and Ms. Navas.
Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that a final order be entered finding that Mr. Jefferson violated Subsections 1012.795(1)(c), 1012.795(1)(f), and 1012.795(1)(i), Florida Statutes, and Florida Administrative Code Rule 6B-1.006(5)(d) and permanently revoking his educator certificate.
DONE AND ENTERED this 12th day of July, 2010, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.
SUSAN B. HARRELL
Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 12th day of July, 2010.
1/ The conduct alleged occurred between 2004 and 2007. The versions of the Florida Statutes for the conduct alleged remained the same. Unless otherwise indicated, all references to the Florida Statutes are to the 2007 version.
2/ Petitioner cited subsections of the 2009 version of the Florida Statutes in the Administrative Complaint rather than the applicable versions of the Florida Statutes. However, Petitioner described the violations with such specificity that the applicable subsections in the 2007 version of the Florida Statutes are readily ascertainable. For example, in Count I of the Administrative Complaint, Petitioner cites Subsection 1012.795(1)(d) and states that Respondent is guilty of “gross immorality or an act involving moral turpitude as defined by rule of the State Board of Education.” The correct citation to the 2007 version of this violation is Subsection 1012.795(1)(c), Florida Statutes. Thus, the cited violations in this Recommended Order will reflect the numbering in the 2007 version of the Florida Statutes.
Robert F. McKee, Esquire Kelly & McKee, P.A.
Bruce P. Taylor, Esquire
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704
Kathleen M. Richards, Executive Director Education Practices Commission Department of Education
Deborah K. Kearney, General Counsel Department of Education
15 days from the date of this Recommended Order. Any exceptions to this Recommended Order should be filed with the agency that will issue the Final Order in this case.
