Judge orders L.A. Unified teacher to be fired

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered this morning that a city school district teacher who was removed from the classroom and has been paid to do nothing for more than seven years be dismissed within two weeks.

Matthew Kim, a former special education teacher at Grant High School, was accused of touching co-workers' breasts and making improper advances and comments toward students. He was fired by the L.A. Unified School Board of Education in 2003, but a state commission that has final say on teacher dismissals overturned the firing.

The district then appealed that decision and has been fighting to terminate him ever since. In the meantime, the district has continued to pay Kim, who was born with severe cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair. Because of the district's longstanding interpretation of the teachers contract,  Kim has not been given any duties while he has been outside the classroom.

A Times story in May 2009 found that Kim was one of about 160 district employees who have been "housed" while accusations against them are investigated or their terminations are contested.

Judge David P. Yaffe said the Times exposed the issue and it has become "an embarrassment."

Yaffe ordered the Commission on Professional Competence to allow the district to fire Kim by Jan. 26. If he is later reinstated, the district will give Kim back pay with interest.

Kim has denied any improper behavior and his attorney said he may file a petition to the court of appeal.

L.A. Unified has spent more than $2 million in legal fees and salary on the Kim case.

-- Jason Song

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Comments

[Lisa]

I remember the original article well. It irked me because thousands of good, dedicated teachers were being laid off for no reason other than budget cuts, yet flotsam like this guy was being paid because of the inefficiency of the system. Can we, once and for all, get a clean over view of what the heck is going on with LAUSD? No one really knows what's going on on the inside, but I can't help but get an impression that it's a poorly engineered system that's been duct taped together.

[aart]

calif is not what ituse ot be

[jimbo]

what a joke, the teachers union needs to go down . vote conserative.. lets take the state back

[Wm]

Who approves the comments?...another lame brain from Calif?get real....It should be whatever Calif wants to do...the rest of the nation should have to approve it>!!

[Lornaj]

LAUD has wasted enough money to balance the budget. The state panel should not have given Kim back his job. The union needs to change that section in their contractor where people can get paid for doing nothing.

[Wm]

Ther is no Southern Calif...its just a part of Northern Mexico!

[Big G]

The fact that this guy is handicapped has to have something to do with his not being let go. All the hub-bub about the district not having money, then you see this complete waste of millions. Who's in charge?

[MONIQUE]

unbelievable, the teachers union should be SHAME.

[Blenda M]

This is why LAUSD's going down the drain. It takes a judge and seven years to fire him? And who the hell hired him, knowing he has cerebral palsy?

[Stacy]

I can’t believe this! Here is this and many other teachers paid to do nothing! Sit at home and wait to be fired pending a court hearing... Yet Riverside county is considering layoffs of over 100 teachers to close a budget gab... please people will someone see the problem with this picture!

[Dave]

I could not agree more with your post, dude!! I DO live in Southern Cal, ( have for ALL 47 years of my life ) and I can tell you, it has turned into one big huge crap-hole. We have more signs in Spanish and Chinese than in English and everyone here is more worried about their appearance, than what is going on in the world. Not to worry - I own a house in St. George, Utah and when our State gets handed back to Mexico, I have my escape planned!!

[mark hopkins]

Wow, May I please have a job I can perform incompetently in and still receive
several years of pay while doing nothing?

It would be much better than constantly having to be the glue that bonds an event together, while at the same time taking the blame when all the other vendors are incompetent.

Amazing.

[Snarf]

@Leftcoastgal: it's probably because nothing about LA Unified shocks anyone anymore. The more I'm around LA and its horrid school system, the more I miss San Diego. :-(

[David Guerrero]

What is there to say Leftcoastgal? Why are you such a hater? Maybe you need some more sun.

[Cowtown9]

How dare they fire this man. Don't they realize he is a union employee!
What about his assistant who had to translate for him for each class since he could not speak or write? Where will she work?
The students should be grateful they get an free education from these highly motivated and dedicated teachers who have driven out state to 48th placein the country as far as test scores.
Now leave the teachers alone so they can get back to providing a free education and serving free lunches to the children of illegal immigrants while the rest of the students scramble to make it in dilapted classrooms, with inadequete supplies and 45 other students sharing the same room in the 4th grade and above.

[BreakingNews]

Remember, when there's one finger pointing at me there are three pointing back at you.

[DON]

this is just one more example of exactly why the lausd sucks, and turns out a non competitive product (students).
if this were a business it would have been bk years ago.
put the guy on disability and keep him off the lausd payroll.
regarding his severe celebral palsy, iven if he were reinstated, would he still be able to teach a class since its a degenrative disease?

[Sqz1121]

Leftcoast - you may not know this, but the story in the LA Times ran quite a while ago, so the fact that we're paying huge legal fees and salaries for several LAUSD employees who sit around and do nothing all day is not news to LA residents. The Judge's decision is the only new development. I think that the whole situation is ridiculous, and that we need to find a better way to deal with tenured teachers who should be dismissed.

[D.T.]

Really LefcoastGal? Nobody but you responded to this ;which mean noboby but you in the north and south responded to this as well. I was ready to post my opinion about this until I read yours. Seriously, did you happen to look at the time this story was posted? It was at lunch time when most people are probably away from their computers.
Maybe you need to break away from the state, the country and reality....

Now, as far as it goes; it's a shame that this guy screwed with the system. Somebody finally did the right thing and terminated him. I don't know about others in this situation. Hopefully, that will be resolved without all that money going to waste.

[Jade]

Hi Genius (Leftcoastgal),

This story is not linked to on the front page. So why would people look for it?

[e qualiser]

$2 million in lawyers' fees and litigation expenses?! what a waste of money, taxpayers' money. those in authority and who are responsible for allowing this to happen should be made to explain why this case reached such gargantuan proportions in terms of legal expenses. if their explanation is not satisfactory, appropriate penalties should be meted out to all concerned. and the lawyer/s should be fired immediately for handling the case so incompetently. the stink of a milking cow smells. a compromise settlement could have resolved the case.

[brandon]

This is a rediculous case! One large problem with our state, and nation, is presented in this case. Public entities don't have the ability to terminate employees anymore it seems like. The public entities are almost scared to terminate an employee for fear of a lawsuit. These public entities should be able to terminate an employee for poor performance, without fear of being sued. Unfortunately, wrongful termination suits have gotten out-of-hand. This is magnified in California. Most public workers (public teachers/professors) with a tenure milk the system anyways. The public workers that fit this category are largely union affiliated groups. In the state of our economy, there are 1000's of unemployed people that are more motivated than those public workers with a job. What has our state come to? I could go on and on, but I'd rather not waste my time.

Leftcoastgal-I lived in Norcal and the people are the same sweetheart. Bay area is just as bad as LA-LA land. We have just as many dummies!

[Tony]

He was PAID , while they figured this OUT ? No wonder the LAUSD is in trouble. Its time to weed out the MORONS and place people with brains in control. This not only applies here but to other businesses that do the SAME thing. The law has ridiculous provisions that NEED to be changed. No wonder our government is in debt in the Trillions. People grow some backbones and do things RIGHT !!

[sadjaz]

Hey leftcoastgal, do whatever is in your power to make the California split happen. I live in the 'South' and would love nothing more than to split with the 'North' so that this half of the state would have nothing to do with the majority left wing retards that exist up there. Good riddence!!! It can't happen soon enough!!!

[jay]

For your information we 'southies' have tried to get this guy terminated for years, but some of your neighbors up north in Sacramento keep reinstating him!!!!!