KIPP charter school co-founder sues after being fired for alleged sexual misconduct
A founder of the KIPP charter school network who was fired in 2018 after being accused of sexual misconduct is suing the organization, saying the allegations were false and that his career and reputation have been destroyed by the actions of KIPP.
KIPP executives called the lawsuit filed by Mike Feinberg “baseless and frivolous,” and said they “regret” that he is putting his accusers and the “entire KIPP community through further distress.”
Feinberg, who in 1994 co-founded a Texas school that grew into the nation’s largest charter network, filed the lawsuit Thursday and is seeking a jury trial and punitive and other damages. He has consistently denied an allegation that he sexually abused a student in the late 1990s. The allegation triggered two investigations.
A letter issued by KIPP on Feb. 22, 2018, announcing Feinberg’s firing said an independent probe had found that an allegation of sexual abuse from two decades earlier had “credibility.” It said Feinberg denied misconduct
The letter also cited an allegation of sexual harassment against Feinberg involving an adult employed by KIPP Houston; that case involved a financial settlement, the letter said. And it said there was another “credible” but uncorroborated allegation of sexual harassment of an adult employed by KIPP Houston. Both women were KIPP graduates.
Feinberg’s lawsuit says that he was never given “detailed information about the allegations” against him and that if he had, he could have “provided facts that would have disproved them.”
“KIPP’s public statements following Mike’s termination were false and inflammatory,” the lawsuit says. “KIPP knew that such a serious allegation would destroy Mike’s career in education and be personally devastating to him, his family and friends. But KIPP didn’t care. What mattered most to KIPP was that Mike be removed and CONTINUE READING: KIPP charter school co-founder sues after being fired for alleged sexual misconduct - The Washington Post
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