Maryland Teacher Wins $518,000 in Defamation Lawsuit Over False Racism Allegation

A teacher in Maryland is poised to receive a substantial financial settlement after a court mandated that the school district pay him $518,000 for defamation. The case arose following allegations that he made racist comments in his classroom, which he denies. The incident involved two Black students at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School who reportedly refused to sit in their assigned seats. The students later claimed that the teacher, Dan Engler, made a racial remark when he said he couldn't tell them apart from other students—an assertion he asserts was a misunderstanding, as his intent was to learn students' names. Two days after the incident, the school principal, Shelton Mooney, sent an email to staff, parents, and students describing a "hate bias incident." However, it was later revealed that Engler had not made the alleged comment. Instead, he had expressed a desire to keep students in their assigned seats to help remember their names. The lawsuit contended that Mooney defamed Engler by publicly accusing him of displaying "hate bias" without providing him an opportunity to clarify the situation. Although the email did not explicitly name Engler, he was easily identifiable du...