School Board Votes to Settle Gagnon Lawsuit for $400,000

Several community members came before the board to argue for and against the settlement.

The former MHS student who alleged sexual abuse at the hands of then-MHS assistant coach and parent liaison Rod Frazier, asked the board not to settle. "I attended MHS for two years; the abuse started when I was 15," she said, adding that Gagnon was principal when the abuse occurred. "I was told while I was attending, that if I said anything about the abuse that I could not walk with my class or receive my diploma." She concluded: "Why are you even considering paying this man $400,000?"

But others called upon the board to settle the case for the $400,000, with some of them arguing that doing so would allow the district to "heal."

The first commenter, a former chair of the MHS Advisory Council, said that Gagnon was "unfortunately and inappropriately suspended without pay.“

Gagnon’s suspension came after the State Attorney’s office filed charges against him, following an investigation by the Bradenton Police Department.

The commenter added that it was important for the board to "not trust the wrong people again" and that board members would probably be hearing from said people "who do not want this district to heal."

A letter from retired Manatee County school principal Judy Bayer, who was unable to attend the meeting, was read by another commenter. The letter claimed "selective people were attacked by the regime (meaning, the administration of former Superintendent Rick Mills) É especially in the Gagnon case."

Superintendent Diana Greene, who recommended the motion to settle, was Deputy Superintendent of Instruction under Mills, and was on the district committee that decided to suspend Gagnon without pay.

Bayer’s letter went on to say that witnesses in the trials that followed the abuse and harassment allegations against Frazier "were manipulated to the point of committing perjury."

School board candidate Linda Schaich, who said that the "witch hunt" allegations made by some people "seem dubious at best," argued against settling. "Defendants can only respond during the process and at trial," she said, adding: "So far, we’ve only heard Gagnon’s version É by settling out of court, the public may never know the real truth."

John Colon, who was serving on the Florida Board of Education at the time the Frazier scandal broke and was appointed to the board after Gagnon filed his lawsuit against the board, said: "I don’t know Mr. Gagnon. The decision I make tonight won’t make anybody happy, but it’s a business decision. This is not something we want to continue. Gagnon may have gotten a raw deal; the district may have gotten a raw deal; what matters is that we move on. My basic opinion is, this would be the best settlement for the district, for our staff."

Colon added: "This is the extent that our attorneys felt was our liability. This ($400,000) is what they felt it would cost us to take it to trial in legal fees É this is why I’m voting 'yes' for it."

"Both sides of this case É have to settle for less than they think they deserve," said Colon's fellow board member Charlie Kennedy. "For that, they get closure in this case. There is no admission of guilt from anyone involved."

Kennedy added: "Put yourself in a situation where: you lose your job; you are charged with a crime; you are then cleared of that wrongdoing; you then go to an ALJ, are told you deserve your job back; at every step of the way, you deserve your job back. So put yourself in that position, of that being done to you. I would be coming full-bore after my job." Kennedy, who acknowledged that he worked under Gagnon for one year while employed as a teacher at MHS, said, "that has nothing to do with my vote tonight."

Bob Gause also spoke in support of the settlement. "It’s a tough issue. Something bad did happen É (but not by Gagnon), and that has been demonstrated every step of the way." Gause noted that an administrative law judge advised the district after acquittal that Gagnon should be given his job back.