Friday, November 2, 2001
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Friday, November 2, 2001 |
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Board settles bus driver lawsuit By JOHN
THOMPSON The insurance company for the Coweta County School System has settled a lawsuit with former school system bus driver Desiree Jackson. The United National Insurance Company has agreed to settle the case for $33,000, following an Oct. 24 mediation session before a federal magistrate. The trial was scheduled for Nov. 13. The lawsuit has been dismissed with prejudice as a part of the settlement. The issue of settlement was left to the insurer, and settlement negotiations were headed by its counsel. The amount of the settlement was paid under the terms of the insurance policy covering the claim, and not from school system funds. The Coweta County School System has denied and continues to deny any liability to Jackson. As part of any settlement, Jackson had asked to be reinstated to her former position, but the school system declined to reinstate her. Jackson was a former bus driver for the Coweta County School System who filed the lawsuit in federal court in 1999, claiming she had been terminated from her position because of her opposition to the special purpose local option sales tax vote in March 1997, and claiming that her First Amendment rights had been thus violated. Jackson was dismissed from her employment in October 1997, and school system officials say the termination stemmed from a well-documented case of insubordination unrelated to her claims. She is currently a bus driver for the Fayette County School System.
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