Teacher Files Million Dollar Defamation Claim Against PUSD and Madison Elementary Principal

Madison Elementary First Grade school teacher Patricia Guzman has filed a claim against the Pasadena Unified School District and Madison Elementary Principal Juan Ruelas accusing Ruelas of defaming her by falsely claiming that she grabbed one of her students by the arm and shook him in a harmful manner.

Guzman adamantly denies that she ever touched the student and asserts in her claim that Ruelas concocted the false allegations against her in retaliation for her sending an email criticizing Ruelas to Superintendent Brian McDonald and the President of her union and for her leadership role in the group of teachers, parents, and community activists who objects to Ruelas being foisted on them at Madison. Guzman’s claim says that, since Ruelas began serving as principal, 14 of the 21 teachers at Madison have been replaced and dozens of parents, teachers, and other community members have signed a petition requesting that Superintendent McDonald appoint a panel at Madison to select a principal, as he has done at other schools.

According to Guzman: “If Mr. Ruelas actually believed that I had endangered the safety of one of my students, he would have immediately dealt with it and reported the incident. He would not have left the child in the classroom and waited seven hours to file a report. He lied about me in order to retaliate against me, to discredit me, and to silence me. It illustrates why he should not be the principal at Madison. By filing this claim, I am standing up for myself and all the other teachers and parents at Madison that Mr. Ruelas has tried to bully since he got here.”

In her claim, Guzman asserts that Ruelas defamed her in her trade and profession as an elementary school teacher by false statements that he made to the student’s mother, a custodian at Madison, and members of the League of United Latin American Citizens – allegations that she “physically attacked” and “physically abused” the student. Guzman also asserts that Ruelas’ defamatory statements have been forseeably republished on several occasions.

Guzman is represented by local civil rights attorney Skip Hickambottom, who stated that; “For good reasons, persons like Mr. Ruelas who are required by law to report instances of child abuse are absolutely immune from any type of liability for making a report. However, they are not immune from liability for the defamatory statements that they make outside of the context of their reporting duties. We seek to hold Mr. Ruelas liable for all of the defamatory statements about my client that were made outside of the context of his reporting duties, not for his absolutely privileged communication to Human Resources.”

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