RI teacher called students 'crop top Karen' and other names. A judge upheld his firing.

Katie Mulvaney, Providence Journal
·4 min read
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PROVIDENCE – A Superior Court judge upheld the firing of a North Kingstown High School chemistry teacher who coined "distasteful" nicknames for female students, including "crop top Karen," "baby" and "babela."

Judge Stephen P. Nugent on Friday ruled that the state commissioners of education and the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education got it right when they upheld the firing of James Viner in 2015 for “good and just” cause after a student reported that he'd kissed her on the cheek.

Viner’s lawyer, Carly Iafrate, declined comment Wednesday.

According to Viner's LinkedIn page, he worked for North Kingstown as a chemistry teacher for 18 years and now teaches science at Ocean Tides.

Student alleges she was kissed on the cheek

According to the ruling, a parent reported to then-Assistant Principal Barbara Morse in 2015 that her daughter had a panic attack after failing chemistry, and that Viner kissed her on the cheek when she asked to go to the nurse’s office. The student alleged, too, that Viner repeatedly made inappropriate comments about female students.

Former Schools Supt. Philip Auger referred the matter to the district’s lawyer, who brought on lawyer Aubrey Lombardo to investigate. Lombardo interviewed five female students and prepared her findings in what was referred to as the Viner Report.

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The district’s lawyer, Mary Ann Carroll, informed Viner through his union representative that a student alleged he had kissed her and that an investigation was underway. Auger notified him via letter that there would be a pre-deprivation hearing, after which the superintendent recommended to the School Committee that Viner be suspended without pay for the rest of the school year and fired at its conclusion. Viner did not receive the so-called Viner Report.

Did the School Committee prove Viner should be fired?

Outlining the allegations against Viner, the School Committee, in its statement of cause, said he:

  • Admitted to calling a student a “10 out of 10”;

  • Told another that she had a “complete body”;

  • Referred to another as “Daisy” as in Daisy Duke, and still others as "baby."

He denied kissing the student, saying that he only blew a kiss in her ear.

The committee voted 4-to-0 to suspend Viner and terminate him at the end of the school year. Viner appealed the decision to the state Department of Education. A hearing officer found that the School Committee had violated his due-process rights by failing to provide him with the report until eight months after Auger’s recommendation that he be fired.

The hearing officer noted that eight of nine students who testified did not think Viner made comments with sexual intent, and that even the student thought the kiss was intended to comfort her.

The hearing officer concluded that the School Committee did not satisfy its burden of showing that the firing was for “good and just cause.”

Then-Education Commissioner Ken Wagner, however, concluded that the officer had reached the wrong conclusion and that Viner’s admissions that he blew a kiss in a student’s ear and failed to maintain professional classroom boundaries satisfied the “good and just” cause standard for termination. He affirmed the School Committee’s suspension and firing of Viner.

Firing upheld by Superior Court

Viner then subpoenaed and deposed the district’s lawyers, Carroll and Lombardo, and asked Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green to reopen the record, arguing that the depositions showed the investigation was biased.

Infante-Green agreed that Viner’s due-process rights had been violated but said that those violations were cured by the multi-day hearing before the hearing officer. Infante-Green upheld Wagner’s decision.

Viner then appealed to the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, which found that Infante-Green cited good law in determining the “good and just cause” standard and was not in error. The council also concluded that the hearing cured any due-process violations.

Viner appealed to Superior Court, arguing his due-process rights were violated.

In ruling, Nugent found that Viner’s hearing before the hearing officer – “with counsel present and copious witnesses testifying” – cured any due-process violations. He concluded that Wagner had detailed multiple actions by Viner that “satisfied the 'good and just cause' standard, including frequently commenting on female students’ appearances and giving them distasteful nicknames.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI judge upholds firing of teacher for distasteful student nicknames