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BY BOB HOLT
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Jefferson Township Board of Education officials are considering an appeal as a result of losing an age discrimination lawsuit to former teacher Jeanne O’Neill.
O’Neill, now 63, taught chemistry in Jefferson Township High School for 22 years, and received high evaluation ratings for much of that period. That all changed in 2008.
O'Neill had filed notice of her intention to retire after the 2007-08 school year. But she canceled her retirement early in 2008 when her husband became ill and was unable to work. According to the Daily Record, O’Neill’s lawsuit states that the district increased observations in her classroom after that, and began finding her work unsatisfactory where she had previously been seen as exemplary.
“I needed my health benefits," O’Neill said, according to NJ.com. The lawsuit says her supervisors checked on her classroom seven times in four months and said her teaching "bordered on incompetence." The suit also accused O’Neill of not adding technology to her classroom routine.
On Friday O’Neill was awarded O’Neill $300,000 for emotional distress, $130,000 in back pay, and $79,000 in lost wages and benefits by a Morris County jury.
BOE president Ron Smith told Jefferson Patch, “While we respect the legal process, we are unhappy with this outcome. We are currently exploring our options.”
