MoCo school board ordered to pay $518K to former B-CC High teacher accused of racism

[Anonymous]

I saw him making the news rounds again. I thought he got another settlement for 500k but it’s the same one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I don’t know if Engler was a racist but I do know he was part of a trio of terrible, arrogant IB teachers at BCC, Holpt, Engler and Sir (I mean Mr.) Richard. I suspect there was some truth the claims of racism but unfortunately Mooney fumbled it.


One of the colleagues used to have issues with him as well. She felt talked down and that he was a bit chauvinistic on his replies to her. I didn’t spoke to the dude or witnessed their interactions, but that’s what she told me.

He was not a good teacher. He ran a side business repairing/maintaining crew shells & would drive all over MoCo during the school day for this which meant that he was often late (or missed) class. He often looked disheveled and my DD suspected he was drinking during the day at school. He was also chauvinistic, although my DD did not experience him being racist.

I'm a teacher. How in the world do you just not show up because you are continually driving around the county on a side gig? Who is covering his classes all that time? I don't know of an AP that would put up for that very long. How was he not get disciplined for this?

Because that is just not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw there is a Go Fund Me for Engler. I did not realize that, despite the verdict, he settled for less because of a MD law capping judgments against government entities.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-dan-engler-pay-down-his-remaining-legal-debt

That's incredible--Engler settled for $395K from MCPS and his legal fees were $520K, and his life is still in shambles thanks to MCPS. Everyone loses here except the lawyers who get their money.

Taylor should have sent a public apology email for mismanaging this case so badly that it destroyed a teacher's career and cost MCPS $400K that schools could certainly use for more productive purposes.

I wasn't aware of that law. Why did McKnight get so much on her settlement then?

This is an excellent question.
But we really all know the answer to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw there is a Go Fund Me for Engler. I did not realize that, despite the verdict, he settled for less because of a MD law capping judgments against government entities.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-dan-engler-pay-down-his-remaining-legal-debt

That's incredible--Engler settled for $395K from MCPS and his legal fees were $520K, and his life is still in shambles thanks to MCPS. Everyone loses here except the lawyers who get their money.

Taylor should have sent a public apology email for mismanaging this case so badly that it destroyed a teacher's career and cost MCPS $400K that schools could certainly use for more productive purposes.

I wasn't aware of that law. Why did McKnight get so much on her settlement then?

This is an excellent question.
But we really all know the answer to it.

Because that wasn’t a court judgement. It was a negotiated buyout between the BOE and McKnight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw there is a Go Fund Me for Engler. I did not realize that, despite the verdict, he settled for less because of a MD law capping judgments against government entities.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-dan-engler-pay-down-his-remaining-legal-debt

That's incredible--Engler settled for $395K from MCPS and his legal fees were $520K, and his life is still in shambles thanks to MCPS. Everyone loses here except the lawyers who get their money.

Taylor should have sent a public apology email for mismanaging this case so badly that it destroyed a teacher's career and cost MCPS $400K that schools could certainly use for more productive purposes.

I wasn't aware of that law. Why did McKnight get so much on her settlement then?

This is an excellent question.
But we really all know the answer to it.

Because that wasn’t a court judgement. It was a negotiated buyout between the BOE and McKnight.

Why would they agree to so much more than what was in the contract and what she could ever sue for?

[Anonymous]

Seems very shady of Engler’s lawyers to allow him to rack up legal fees of more than the maximum he could be granted.
Why didn’t these expensive lawyers who gave him “such a great deal” know the 400k limitation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw there is a Go Fund Me for Engler. I did not realize that, despite the verdict, he settled for less because of a MD law capping judgments against government entities.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-dan-engler-pay-down-his-remaining-legal-debt

That's incredible--Engler settled for $395K from MCPS and his legal fees were $520K, and his life is still in shambles thanks to MCPS. Everyone loses here except the lawyers who get their money.

Taylor should have sent a public apology email for mismanaging this case so badly that it destroyed a teacher's career and cost MCPS $400K that schools could certainly use for more productive purposes.

I wasn't aware of that law. Why did McKnight get so much on her settlement then?

This is an excellent question.
But we really all know the answer to it.

Because that wasn’t a court judgement. It was a negotiated buyout between the BOE and McKnight.

Why would they agree to so much more than what was in the contract and what she could ever sue for?

Because people get very generous when it’s not their money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems very shady of Engler’s lawyers to allow him to rack up legal fees of more than the maximum he could be granted.
Why didn’t these expensive lawyers who gave him “such a great deal” know the 400k limitation?

Lawyers don’t deny people counsel because their fees will exceed what the person paying them is likely to make off of a case. Don’t forget Engler was fighting for his reputation, not just the money. At least he can say now, that the jury found McPS at fault for defaming him-which I’m sure helps his employment prospects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems very shady of Engler’s lawyers to allow him to rack up legal fees of more than the maximum he could be granted.
Why didn’t these expensive lawyers who gave him “such a great deal” know the 400k limitation?

Lawyers don’t deny people counsel because their fees will exceed what the person paying them is likely to make off of a case. Don’t forget Engler was fighting for his reputation, not just the money. At least he can say now, that the jury found McPS at fault for defaming him-which I’m sure helps his employment prospects.

You sound like a lawyer and not someone who works in the school system. I still don’t think someone should be that much in the whole when they “win” a case.
And unfortunately, I still don’t think this win will help his job prospects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems very shady of Engler’s lawyers to allow him to rack up legal fees of more than the maximum he could be granted.
Why didn’t these expensive lawyers who gave him “such a great deal” know the 400k limitation?

Lawyers don’t deny people counsel because their fees will exceed what the person paying them is likely to make off of a case. Don’t forget Engler was fighting for his reputation, not just the money. At least he can say now, that the jury found McPS at fault for defaming him-which I’m sure helps his employment prospects.

You sound like a lawyer and not someone who works in the school system. I still don’t think someone should be that much in the whole when they “win” a case.
And unfortunately, I still don’t think this win will help his job prospects.

I’m not a lawyer but I have common sense enough to know that it’s not always about the money. Saving your reputation could be priceless and if a person wanted to spend their money to fight a potentially winnable case, a lawyer isn’t going to say no.