Judge rules L.A. Unified can fire special ed teacher paid to stay out of schools

A Los Angeles Unified School District special education teacher who has been paid to stay away from classrooms for more than seven years while the district tried to fire him for alleged sexual harassment should be dismissed, a county Superior Court judge has ruled.

Matthew Kim, who formerly taught at Grant High School in Van Nuys, is accused of groping and making inappropriate comments to several students and co-workers. Kim, who was born with cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair, was assigned to a district office in 2002 after the allegations and was paid his full salary and benefits.

Many critics said his case was emblematic of the difficulty facing state school districts, and particularly the Los Angeles Unified School District, in firing problematic teachers. A Times series, published in May, found that it can take years of paperwork and hearings to dismiss educators accused of wrongdoing. And it is mostly the egregious cases in which districts pursue termination.

In the Kim case, a three-member state commission that oversees teacher dismissals recommended that he be returned to the classroom. The case has wound its way through the court system, and in a decision made public Monday, Judge David P. Yaffe was sharply critical of the commission.

Yaffe ruled that the state commission ignored evidence that Kim was sexually harassing co-workers and students and said the commission was changing “the facts of the case to support its prior decision instead of changing its prior decision to one that is supported by the facts of the case.”

“Such actions … demonstrate the commission’s profound contempt for, and disrespect of, the judgments and orders of the courts of this state,” Yaffe wrote.

L.A. Unified officials must respond to the court, but L.A. Unified Supt. Ramon C. Cortines said he would move to suspend Kim’s pay immediately.

-- Jason Song

Photo: Matthew Kim has severe cerebral palsy and has been repeatedly accused of sexual harassment. Credit: Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times

Times investigation: Failure gets a pass

Comments

[LAUSD should go to school themselves]

That's nice. Leave it to the LAUSD to keep pedophiles on the payroll especially when they're not working and make it impossible to fire them. What a screw up the LAUSD is.

[Da Maverick]

Looks like it's back to SSI Disability payments.
However, you would still get paid to do nothing, just considerably less.. like $800 per month. Good luck getting by on that.

[BaitSlinger]

Man that must be one heck of a powerful union...

[Bob Johnson]

This is what the education budget has led to. What a joke.

[michael]

Having worked in LAUSD for 25 years I am well aware of the fact that there are a number of teachers who are not up to the job and should be fired. However, there are also a number of principals who are doing a terrible job and attempt to fire worthwhile teachers. Moreover, there are also students falsely accusing teachers of sexual harassment. Data shows that accusations of sexual harassment rise right before grades are due. Those poor teachers are guilty until proven innocent. Each case needs to be taken individually and judged objectively. For some reason the Times vilifies teachers when fair and balanced reporting is what's needed.

[Rodney]

God Bless Judge Yafee. An independent judiciary not influenced by union money is a wonderful thing.

[Sandra Grimley]

Reread the original story, people. The teacher's union didn't keep Kim on the payroll. It was LAWYERS! A principal tried to fire Kim, and Kim sued for $1.4 million!

[Gimme A BREAK!]

Gawd, the FREAKS in CA Govt.....and the public/voters sit there, dumb as baboons, picking each others ticks!

[dodger tony]

Wait till you see the bill for the California Supreme Court case upcoming.

[thecanimalshusband]

What about the children?

[John]

This person has a disease that can trigger unwanted movement of any body parts. Did the take judge that into consideration? I don't think so. I think the testimony of the accusers were only taken into consideration. I hope Mr.Kim appeals the ruling and sue the LAUSD for wrongful termination.

[Guy]

The real idiots are the people on the three-member state commission. If it wasn't for their idiotic decisions, then this whole mess would have been over long ago. Too much power is given to these people who have very little accountability.

[LA Native]

It sounds like LAUSD did their job in this case and had their hands tied by the state. This is one time where you can't come down heavy on the district, for 7 years they have been trying to fire this guy!
Wouldn't it be nice if we had a politician apocalypse, maybe then we could get our house in order

[Scott]

Hey John, do you think the cerebral palsy also has control of his mouth? Movements might be misinterpreted, but what he says is another matter. School boards should be able to hire/fire w/o taking years to get rid of someone that shouldn't have gotten that far in the first place. And that goes for many districts across the nation, not just CA.

[ted]

Just watch a school board meeting ans listen to the idiots we elected to make decisions.
Scary stuff but guess what? They will probably be elected again.
So people deserve what they get.