An Austin school district's former director of diversity and intercultural relations reached a settlement with the school board earlier this month, where the district will be paying $149,500 to the former employee after a wrongful termination dispute.
The Austin Statesman reports that the settlement money Margarita Decierdo will be receiving is equivalent to about a year's worth of pay and her attorney fees. The woman was a contract employee with the school district and was in the second year of her three-year contract with the district when she was terminated.
The district said that the employee was terminated in an effort to reduce a projected gap in the 2010-11 budget. There were reportedly 36 contract employees that were terminated, but Margarita Decierdo was the only one of the contract workers to file for an appeal. The woman had a certified hearing examiner for the Texas Education Agency representing her, who stated that contract employees could be cut only for good cause, such as poor job performance, or when a district declares financial exigency, a state of fiscal emergency.
Trustees of the settlement voted 7-1 to approve the settlement, which means that the former contract employee will receive the $149,500 but that she can no longer sue the school district.
Wrongful termination cases take all different shapes and forms. If you have recently been laid off or fired from a job and believe that you may have lost your job for an unlawful reason, it would be a good idea to contact a Houston employment lawyer to learn more information on filing a claim.
Related Resources:
- Wrongful Termination Claims (FindLaw)
- Contact a Houston Employment Lawyer (FindLaw)
- Ten Things to Think About: Wrongful Discharge (FindLaw)
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