Court Gives Woke School District 500,000 Reasons To Examine The Meaning Of “Hate Bias”

Liberals believe that they are never wrong and very often project their own hatred onto others. Such was the case when, last week, a Montgomery County Circuit Court jury found that the Montgomery County School Board had defamed Dan Engler, a former English teacher at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.

According to Bethesda Today, the court awarded Engler damages of $500,000, plus $18,000 in prejudgment interest for a total of $518,000.

The case centered around an incident that took place in Engler’s classroom in 2023. Engler had established assigned seats, but two black students refused to sit in the seats that they were assigned to. After this confrontation, the students told the assistant principal that Engler told them that he wouldn’t be able to tell them apart from other students, insinuating that the comment was racial.

At this point, the leftist principal, Shelton Mooney, projected his inner hate onto Engler. Two days after the incident, Mooney sent an email to all staff, parents, and students stating that a “hate bias incident” had taken place at the school.

The message said that “several African American students” were told by a teacher that he was “unable to distinguish them from other African American students” in the classroom and that the Montgomery County Police Department had been notified as an internal investigation was ongoing.

Mooney Wrote:

“Let me be clear, discrimination of any kind must not be tolerated.”  He then listed the school’s policy against “insensitivity, disrespect, bias, verbal abuse, harassment, bullying, physical violence or illegal discrimination toward any person.”

Although Mooney did not name Engler in his accusatory email, Engler stated that students, parents, and colleagues quickly identified him. He maintains that he did not make the statement attributed to him in the letter and “did not do anything that could reasonably be classified as a ‘hate bias incident.’”

Engler’s lawsuit claimed that his reputation was “destroyed” by the email. It also alleged that Mooney and the school board violated MCPS policies and procedures by sending the message before completing an investigation. Additionally, the lawsuit states that they refused to issue a retraction or an apology.

It was later revealed that Engler did not make this comment. Instead, he explained that he wanted to keep students in their assigned seats to help him learn their names.

The jury agreed with Engler and found the school board liable for defamation, but somehow not Principal Mooney, who managed to slip through the cracks. MCPS told FOX 5 that Mooney is heading to Blake High School, where he will be the assistant principal, and retired principal Kevin Yates will serve as acting principal at B-CC effective Aug.12.

The MCPS has made another questionable decision by allowing Mooney to take another position, especially given the ongoing safety concerns expressed by the school community over the years. While Mooney had support from some parents, there was also a vocal group that believed he was not suitable for the role and called for a change.

“At this point, I believe the school deserves a reset,” said Lyric Winik, PTSA President at B-CC, while her sons attended the high school from 2020 to 2023.

She has firsthand experience of the challenges the school has been dealing with over the years, with Mooney as its leader.

“B-CC in particular suffered from a lot of safety challenges, and mental health challenges among the students.”

She mentioned that there were bomb threats, weapons found on campus, fights at school, and several lockdowns—just a few of the incidents that FOX 5 covered at the high school.

Early this year, a group of B-CC students were seen on camera fighting at a park nearby before one of them allegedly pulled out a gun, forcing the school to go on lockdown.

Winik added:

“The number of students who have tragically ended up incarcerated for poor decisions that have been made really necessitates something to change dramatically at the school and build a better community.”

Before his trial, Engler shared with Fox News Digital that the experience significantly impacted his mental health. On the same day, he took disability leave for a year and a half before returning to teach at another school in the district.

“I love teaching. I love coaching, and I really care a great deal about the relationships I have with those kids and helping them learn how to become adults in the best way possible. To lose the confidence of the kids, the trust of the kids, based on what the kids’ leadership had to say about me, was devastating. It was identity stealing.”

For him, the verdict was “a tremendous relief.”  

He explained to Bethesda Today:

“Teachers are human and are not mistake-free and have good hearts, and they should be treated that way. I believe this verdict is an illustration that what I’m saying is true… so that means a great deal to me.”

How was Mooney able to secure another job with Montgomery County Public Schools? The only explanation seems to be that the school board is so woke that, despite the financial settlement, they still do not believe Mooney acted prematurely with his accusations against Engler.

The mindset of the left is a dangerous and toxic place to be. In this case, the court provided them with 518,000 reasons to reconsider their mistake, yet their only plan was to spread their poison to another school.