Opinion ID: 78637
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Second Complaint Against Hoever The S.W. Incident

Text: Upon his return, Hoever taught an algebra class in which S.W., a tenth-grader, was a student. S.W. filed a complaint against Hoever in May 2005 regarding two incidents of sexual harassment. According to her complaint, some time during the semester Hoever asked her, in response to a question about a math problem, if she wanted to ride around with him over the weekend. She declined. Then in May, she and four other female students were listening to music at Hoever's desk during class. Some of the students departed, leaving only S.W. and one other student, Naomi, with Hoever in the classroom. Hoever started making a compact disc of music for S.W. and Naomi, and he allegedly touched S.W.'s leg while trying to hold her hand. At some point, Naomi left, and Hoever and S.W. remained in the classroom alone. He commented that S.W. seemed very grown up, that he liked how soft her hands feel and how her lips look. Then, according to S.W., Hoever came around his desk to where I was standing and told me to pull up my jacket and my shirt so he can see my stomach. Hoever followed S.W. as she left the classroom, gave her the compact disc, and appeared to be waiting for her to give him a hug. [3] She reported the incident immediately. In her deposition, S.W. testified that she had not reported the first incident because she knew that Hoever had gotten in trouble for the same thing before; the school had only suspended him in response; and the school was not going to do anything about it because he's friends with the principal. In response to S.W.'s complaint, Scavella testified that he directed the Assistant Principal to conduct an informal on-site investigation. [4] Several students, none of whom were named in S.W.'s complaint, were asked to give written statements about the incident, and Scavella called Hoever for a statement. Notably, the students interviewed did not include S.W.'s friend Naomi, the only student named in her complaint, and included some male students, even though S.W.'s complaint reported that four girls were with her at Hoever's desk on the day of the incident. The interviewed students denied witnessing anything improper between Hoever and S.W. In his statement, Hoever denied the allegation, claiming that he had only pushed S.W.'s hand away when she reached toward his lap top computer, but admitted to using class time to make compact discs for students. No one interviewed S.W. about the incident after she filed her written complaint. Scavella then called Dr. Melita, the SIU Personnel Director, and reported that the school's informal investigation did not support S.W.'s complaint or the allegation that Hoever made inappropriate comments or touched her leg. Melita testified that Scavella did not inform him that Hoever was the teacher involved. Scavella testified that he did not remember whether he told Melita that Hoever was the accused teacher and that he did not draw a connection between the similarities in the K.F. and the S.W. complaints at the time. After hearing from Scavella that he thought students were ganging up on a teacher, Melita concluded that the complaint did not warrant formal investigation. Scavella handled the matter on-site by giving Hoever a letter of reprimand for using class time to make compact discs. No one ever advised S.W. about the final disposition of her complaint. Because the S.W. incident occurred at the end of the school year, S.W. was permitted to take her final exam in the front office. No other administrative action was taken. After the 2004-2005 school year, Scavella resigned as Blanche Ely's principal. Before resigning, Scavella gave Hoever a satisfactory performance evaluation and recommended that he be retained for the 2005-2006 school year. The new principal was not informed of the prior complaints against Hoever. There is no record evidence that any continued monitoring of Hoever occurred. The record contains no additional complaints against Hoever until Doe's sexual assault in March 2007.