SECRETARY GETS $125,000 DEAL PALMDALE SCHOOL DISTRICT SETTLES PORN CLAIM.Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer PALMDALE -- Palmdale School District The Palmdale School District is a school district that serves a major part of the city of Palmdale, California (USA). The Palmdale School District was first formed in 1888. Approximately 28,000 students are enrolled in the Palmdale School District. will pay $125,000 and provide health insurance for at least the next 23 years for the superintendent's former secretary, who claimed he created a hostile work environment A hostile work environment exists when an employee experiences workplace harassment and fears going to work because of the offensive, intimidating, or oppressive atmosphere generated by the harasser. by asking her to open e-mail attachments A file that rides along with an e-mail message. The attached file can be of any type. E-mail programs make it easy to attach a file. For example, in Eudora, all you do is select Attach from the Message menu, browse through the folder hierarchy to find the file you want and then double that contained pornography. Terms of the settlement with Maria ``Becky'' Velazquez-McIntyre, which says the payment is for unspecified Adj. 1. unspecified - not stated explicitly or in detail; "threatened unspecified reprisals" specified - clearly and explicitly stated; "meals are at specified times" ``physical personal injuries,'' were approved by the school board April 28 and made public Tuesday after the Daily News asked for them under the state's public records law. Neither side would comment Wednesday on the settlement, which bars both from making discussing any aspects of the case. Both sides admit no wrongdoing wrong·do·er n. One who does wrong, especially morally or ethically. wrong  do as part of the agreement, and Superintendent Jack Gyves has
said the purported e-mail incidents never occurred.
``All requests for references or referrals from the district, its administrators, or its officers related to Mrs. Velazquez-McIntyre will be directed to the district's assistant superintendent Assistant Superintendent, or Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), was a rank used by police forces in the British Empire. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held by a European officer, most of whom joined the police at this rank. , personnel, who shall state only: `Mrs. Velazquez-McIntyre worked for the district from April 1995 through January 2006. Her position at the time she left was executive assistant to the superintendent,''' the settlement agreement said. The agreement said, like other district employees in her category, Velazquez-McIntyre will receive health benefits until age 75, or when she becomes eligible for Medicare, whichever occurs first. Currently, the district has set $15,550 as the maximum it will pay annually for health insurance for nonteaching workers and management staff. The agreement resolves all issues between Velazquez-McIntyre and the district, except for her workers' compensation workers' compensation, payment by employers for some part of the cost of injuries, or in some cases of occupational diseases, received by employees in the course of their work. claim. The district also will withdraw its appeal of a state employment department's decision to award Velazquez-McIntyre unemployment insurance benefits. Velazquez-McIntyre was placed on paid leave June 30, 2005, and fired by the board in January. Velazquez-McIntyre said Gyves twice had her open a sexually explicit e-mail attachment on his office computer. Her attorney said the incidents occurred in fall 2004. Gyves denied the allegations. District officials said a law firm and an independent investigator independent investigator Independent research investigator NIHspeak A well-established scientist whose research accomplishments have resulted in the bestowal of "tenure", ie, long-term commitment of salary, personnel and research resources looked into the allegation The assertion, claim, declaration, or statement of a party to an action, setting out what he or she expects to prove. If the allegations in a plaintiff's complaint are insufficient to establish that the person's legal rights have been violated, the defendant can make a but the outcome of the investigation could not be divulged because it was a personnel matter. After she was fired, Palmdale school officials had accused Velazquez-McIntyre of conspiring with former superintendent Nancy Smith to ensure that a trust on whose board Smith sits as a district representative continues to be the district's employee health benefits provider. Velazquez-McIntyre and Smith both denied the accusations. The matter came to a head at the board's Jan. 17 meeting, when Velazquez-McIntyre took the unusual step of asking that the 22-page document listing the charges against her be read in public. After that, six people spoke in her support, including Smith and former trustee Larry Logsdon. Smith, who retired as superintendent after suffering a stroke in May 2003, called the charges against herself and Velazquez-McIntyre libelous In the nature of a written Defamation ,a communication that tends to injure reputation. , ridiculous and false and denied conspiring with her. Smith still works for the district by sitting as a board member of the Central Valley Trust, which was formed in 1984 to pool the resources of smaller school districts to acquire health care benefits similar to those available to larger districts. She provides the district monthly reports about the trust. karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com (661) 267-5744 |
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