Good For This Former Teacher

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district has been denied a new trial in the case of a teacher who was conned into resigning when he was accused of bogus charges. He won a 1.1-million-dollar jury award.

The district has no intention of giving up. They will starve him and his lawyer so they will settle for a pittance.

Leardini, who spent eight years as a highly regarded teacher in CMS, resigned from his position at Community House Middle School in April 2006 after being confronted with allegations that several students said he touched them improperly. When his suit against CMS went to trial in February, he testified that he touched students’ shoulders and heads as part of an interactive teaching style, but he said false reports of inappropriate touching stemmed from a conflict with a student who was getting bad grades in his class.

Leardini and his lawyers argued that Kay Cunningham, who was an employee relations specialist for CMS, misled him into believing he had to resign immediately to get paid through the end of the year and avoid further investigation, and that he would be fired based on the touching he admitted to.