A Howard County jury yesterday awarded English teacher Michelle Maupin more than $235,000 in compensatory and punitive damages for harassment and retaliation during her time at Centennial High School in Ellicott City.
Maupin remains with the school system, teaching at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia.
The Howard County Board of Education is responsible for $225,000 of those damages, while former Centennial High School principals Lynda Mitic and Scott Pfeifer and English department leader Margaret Polek are responsible for a combined $12,000, according to Maupin's attorney, Mike Coyle.
Coyle said he was "extremely pleased" with the jury's decision, given that his client had not been fired. "This is one of the larger awards I've seen for purely emotional stress," Coyle said. The trial took seven days.
Daniel Scherr, lawyer for the school system, told the jury that the administration might have made mistakes but that nothing was done with malice.
Maupin's allegations stem from a turbulent period at Centennial when the school was rocked by grade-tampering investigations of two top administrators and allegations that the school was not welcoming to minorities. Maupin worked with the African-American Awareness club at the school.
"She had parents coming in saying, 'I don't think my child can succeed in your class' after only one day of school," Coyle said. "These complaints weren't appropriate, and the administration should have stepped up and intervened on her behalf."