A Brewer High School teacher who believes school officials retaliated against her for complaining about LGBTQ+ discrimination is now suing the department in federal court.
Michelle MacDonald filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine in Bangor.
Her attorney, John Gause, said MacDonald advocated for LGBTQ students' rights. She's seeking back pay and lost benefits, damages and reinstatement to her former position as a curriculum leader.
Melissa Hewey, the attorney for the Brewer School Department, says the district takes the rights of LGBTQ students seriously and that the school officials didn't discriminate against MacDonald.
"People disagree in the workplace. You try to work it out. You mediate. You do training," Hewey said. "There are a lot of ways to deal with interpersonal disagreements, but this isn't a matter that should be in federal district court."
But Gause said MacDonald's actions are protected under federal and state civil rights laws. In the complaint, Gause said MacDonald is looking for relief from discrimination and retaliation under the First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, as well as the Maine Human Rights Act and the state's Whistleblower Protection Act.
"The administration treated these conflicts as being two-sided conflicts instead of recognizing that what Michelle was doing was protected and attacking her for doing it was not," he said. "Hopefully through this case there will be a greater awareness of that issue."
MacDonald made two complaints with the Maine Human Rights Commission in 2019. The commission said the school had retaliated against her but didn't find enough evidence of discrimination from individual school officials.
