A Brooklyn teaching assistant was fired over accusations that he kissed three girls, and now he is suing the Department of Education, and he is appealing the city’s inquiry into his situation was incorrect.
According to a lawsuit filed Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court, At P.S. 195 in Manhattan Beach on September 17, the 55 years old Grigoriy Zagerson, claims that he was unfairly fired from his job resulting an investigation over claims that he kissed three little girls on the cheeks, two of them were 6 years old, and one was an 8-year-old girl.
Grigoriy Zagerson, who was working at the school since 2010 on Shore Blvd and Irwin St., was deferred by the school without paying his salary in March 2018, a year and a half before his firing.
For his unfair termination, Grigoriy Zagerson is suing Richard Carranza, the head of agency, the Special Commissioner of Investigation, and the Department of Education.
A report filed by the Special Commissioner of Investigation, when Bernadette Toomey, a mother of one of the girl, told the principal of the school that Zagerson had dragged her 6-year-old daughter near him by the arm and kissed her on the cheek. Since this case arose.
The report notes that the little girl then said the principle that one more student had seen the kiss. After asking that girl, she revealed that a “weird” Zagerson had kissed her on the cheeks.
An 8-year-old girl had also been “paid close attention” by the paraprofessional in the class, informed by the officials of school.
Conferring to the SCI report, Zagerson’s native Russia — who he confessed he “may have pecked” one time on the cheek.
The court papers say, He “may have accidentally touched” one more girl’s cheek when she “arrived at school sad,” disclosed by Zagerson, but he starved of any bad behavior. According to court filings, Zagerson denied the SCI report that corroborated the assertions countered to him and called for his dismissal.
The case says, Principal Toomey “interviewed the young girls” and failed to follow the protocol of Department of Education when she supervised a “flawed” and “faulty” internal inquiry into the allegations, says the former educator.
Zagerson sued the school failed to be responsible for him with the statements of the little girls, even though they promise me to provide the report.
He also said this was proved in the botch of investigators to enquire several staff and pupils who were existing when the apparent bad behavior happened.
On September 12, the teacher wrote to the principal, “If a student chooses to approach me and hug me, I cannot physically block them or pull them away in a way that would create physical punishment.” He also said, “What I can do, and have done countless times, is remove myself from the situation as hastily and softly as possible, without causing additional emotional harm to the student in question.”
Zagerson was fired after the SCI released its findings, a spokesperson for the Department of Education said.
Kimberly Joyce said, “These were troubling allegations that were reported for investigation to SCI, and he was dismissed after the Special Commissioner verified the assertions. We will review the suit.”
The spokesman said in a statement, “We will assess the objection and answer consequently if and when obliged.”