The Courts

Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals (Houston)
ISD Didn’t Discriminate Against Employee
Over Alternative Certification Program Removal
Ruling: A judge’s ruling that an ISD didn’t discriminate against a school employee in removing her from the district’s alternative certification program is upheld. Margaret Fields v. Houston ISD, No. 14-19-00010-CV. Issued Oct. 15.

Fields, an African American, initially worked for HISD as a substitute teacher when she was accepted as a teacher intern in HISD’s alternative certification program starting in 2014-15, and was removed from the program in January 2016, a move that negatively affected her pay, benefits and leave time.

Fields sued HISD alleging the district discriminated against her on the basis of her race and retaliated against her because she had opposed a discriminatory practice.

She appealed to the Fourteenth Court after the trial judge granted HISD’s motion to dismiss.

The appellate justices concluded, after a lengthy discussion of the factual history of the case, that the district had shown it had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for removing Fields from the program.

Among other things, the justices cited HISD’s evidence that Fields had been given numerous opportunities to improve her poor performance, and had been offered assistance to help her improve, to no avail.