Mar 19, 2007 - No criminal charges have been filed against Michael Crosby, 36, a teacher at Morristown-Hamblen High School East, but he was dismissed for allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct with a student.
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JUDGE RECUSES HIMSELF June 9, 2008 - Judge Kindall D. Lawson has recused himself from deciding Michael Crosby’s appeal of his firing by the Hamblen County Board of Education. Whoever is appointed will probably want to hold another hearing, said Scott Reams, the board’s attorney.
Crosby was fired from his teaching position at Morristown-Hamblen High School East in 2007 on charges of unprofessional conduct and insubordination related to his alleged relationship with a female student and because of e-mails sent to another teacher via the school’s computer system.On the other hand,
While the girl told the school board that she did not have a sexual relationship with Crosby, numerous other witnesses testified she had told them she was having sex with Crosby.
Crosby’s attorney, Robert L. Jolley of Knoxville, maintained that there was no proof that Crosby had a sexual relationship with the girl and that by allowing hearsay testimony, the school board made its decision based on evidence not admissible in a court of law.
Reams countered that Crosby’s relationship with the girl did not have to be sexual in nature to constitute an inappropriate relationship for a teacher to have with a student. He cited the testimony of one witness who said he had seen Crosby and the girl kissing and hugging in the back room of a business Crosby owned and where the girl worked.
At the time of the school board’s hearing on Crosby, the girl was living in Crosby’s mother’s house, Reams said.
"There was ample evidence that there was an inappropriate relationship," Reams said. "Clearly, Mr. Crosby should have been disciplined. If the board had not done so, it would have been violating its responsibility to the students and to other employees."
In his appeal, Crosby alleges he did not receive adequate notice of the charges against him and that the board’s decision violated his right to freedom of speech.
Jolley maintained there was no evidence that the other teacher was offended by Crosby’s e-mails, that the e-mails were sent after work hours and that disciplining Crosby over them was a violation of his rights.
Mar 22, 2007 - A Wisconsin teacher who was fired and the charges were later dismissed, is appealing his firing. Dennis Bravick, was accused in Mar 2005 of four counts of invasion of privacy when prosecutors said he entered the girls locker room on several occasions while female students were changing.
A year later - Mar 2006 - all 4 charges were dismissed.
A year later - Mar 2007 - he is appealing to get his job back.
