5th-grade teacher says she was fired for reporting sexual harassment among students in Utah

A Utah elementary school teacher was fired for reporting sexual harassment among her students to administrators at the elementary school, she claims in a lawsuit filed last week.

Kathryn Moore said that she was eventually transferred and canned because she told the principal at Parley’s Park Elementary about the harassment in December 2020, Salt Lake City ABC affiliate KTVX reported.

In the suit, Moore said she told higher-ups that five girls in her fifth-grade class alerted her that a boy was touching them inappropriately and leering at them, according to KTVX. Moore said she reported it to principal Darren Houck immediately.

A Utah teacher filed a lawsuit against her old school district last week.

According to Moore, Houck suggested separating the boys and girls in her classroom and telling the parents of the students involved, KTVX reported. Moore said she followed Houck’s advice, but that led to further discord among the parents who didn’t like the segregated classroom.

Moore said that in January 2021, administrators approached her with an “opportunity” to leave her class and transfer to a different elementary school in the Park City School District, according to local NBC affiliate KSL.

“Moore got the distinct impression that it was not optional,” the suit said.

According to the suit, Moore felt pressured and agreed to the transfer, KSL reported. At her new elementary school, Moore was given a permanent sub position where she really just did a lot of busy work and very little teaching before being dismissed at the end of the school year.

Because Moore was terminated with a nonrenewal notice, she struggled to get a job at a public school in Utah, according to KTVX. Instead, she took a lower paying private school job with worse benefits.

In the suit, Moore is seeking payment for lost wages, compensatory wages to offset the downgrade in benefits and several other damages against Park City School District, KTVX reported. The school didn’t comment, citing a policy against speaking about pending litigation.