Grievances, complaints and lawsuits plague Detroit ISD and Superintendent Kathie Thompson || Series Part 1 of 3

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eExtra News began investigating complaints against Detroit Independent School District and Superintendent Kathie Thompson as far back as Nov. 2021 after tips poured in. After numerous Open Records Requests, an appeal to the Texas Attorney General’s office, and countless interviews with key players, the grievances and lawsuits continue to pile up against the district and Thompson.

 

According to the district’s attorney, Jay Youngblood, and the documentation sent to eExtra News, two grievances against Thompson reached a Level Three Appeal. The first is from Special Ed Paraprofessional Teacher Kristen Miller who is represented by Attorney Brandon Shelby of Shelby Law. Miller filed a grievance against Thompson in February of 2022. Miller’s grievance cited Thompson was not following procedures set forth in the Employee Handbook for the grievance process (Ethical Conduct Standard 2.3), retaliation (Standard 2.7 and Freedom from Retaliation pg. 2), and not allowing issues to be resolved on the lowest level with the administrator (pg. 1). 

 

Further documentation by Miller notes there was increased surveillance, intimidation, and an unjust negative evaluation resulting from and with a Written Reprimand dated Jan. 10. According to Thompson, Miller was not complying with daily directives set forth by her and that Miller had also filed a false report against a fellow teacher which resulted in the written reprimand. In the reprimand, Miller’s campus assignment was changed from the middle school campus to the high school campus. The documentation from Thompson stated, “during middle school changes, you will need to remain in the classroom and not have contact with the middle school students during that time. Your assignment will be with the high school students, with the exception of when you are in your assigned classroom.” 

 

Miller refused to sign the reprimand. 

 

Miller had previous grievance dates of Oct. 29, 2021, Nov. 11, 2021, and Jan.10, 2022, but all were dismissed by high school principal Jonathan Lloyd stating they were “not timely filed.” Lloyd also states in a letter to Miller, “Your Level One Grievance was mistakenly sent to the board. It has been forwarded to me in keeping with the grievance policy contained in the DISD Board Policy DGBA (LOCAL).”

 

We should note the Detroit ISD Employee Handbook on Page 37 entitled, “Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation,” states the following:

 

Individuals who believe they have been discriminated against or retaliated against or harassed are encouraged to promptly report such incidents to the campus principal, supervisor, or appropriate district official. If the campus principal, supervisor, or district official is the subject of a complaint, the complaint should be made directly to the superintendent. A complaint against the superintendent may be made directly to the board.  If a report is made directly to the board, the board shall appoint an appropriate person to conduct an investigation. 

 

Miller went onto the next level of appeal and it was also denied by Lloyd stating the grievance does not contain “Prohibited Harassment” as defined by board policy.

 

According to the policy, “Prohibited harassment of an employee is defined as physical, verbal or nonverbal conduct based on an employee’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or any other basis prohibited by law when the conduct is so severe, persistent or pervasive that the conduct:

 

1. Has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the employee’s work performance;

2. Creates an intimidating, threatening, hostile or offensive work environment; or

3. Otherwise adversely affects the employee’s performance, environment or employment opportunities.”

 

A Level Three Appeal was made on May 4 after the Level Two Appeal was denied by Thompson stating, based on the fact that your complaint did not “contain any allegations for prohibited harassment as defined by DISD Board Policy DGBA (LOCAL) or concerning the actions of Superintendent Kathie Thompson. You did not provide any information in our Level Two conference that would rebut Mr. Lloyd’s decision. After careful consideration, I am upholding the Level One decision of Mr. Lloyd. Your Level Two Appeal is therefore denied. You may, of course, appeal this decision to Level Three in accordance with the Detroit ISD Board Policy.”

 

After almost four months, the grievance went back to the Board of Trustees, and, according to Attorney Youngblood, “The DISD Board of Trustees did not take any action on Ms. Miller’s grievance. Per board policy, the lack of any action by the DISD Board of Trustees resulted in the Level Two decision being upheld.” Consequently, on May 25, Miller received a hand-delivered letter from Thompson stating the district would not be offering her employment for the 2022-23 school year. 

 

“My grievance was ultimately dismissed by the board. I was terminated shortly thereafter. I have not entered into any agreement or received any financial compensation related to my termination. We plan to continue to seek justice for the way I was treated and we will work to hold the district accountable.” – Kristen Miller

 

Youngblood sent the following statement on behalf of the district: 

 

“Detroit ISD cannot comment on personnel issues. It should be noted, nevertheless, that the Detroit ISD Board of Trustees has not granted any grievances that were filed against Superintendent Kathie Thompson. In each case, the board either took no action, which resulted in the Level Two decision of the superintendent being upheld or officially voted to take no action. The board has never made a finding of any wrongdoing on the part of Superintendent Thompson. Additionally, there are no grievances against Superintendent Thompson currently pending with the district.”