Can I sue Callie Oettinger?

[Anonymous]

FCPS is 100% to blame for releasing the data. FCPS is responsible for safeguarding the data. If you are looking for someone to blame - blame yourself. Most of you voted for the weirdo on FCPS school board. Recognize your actions have consequences. Vote them out. But you won't. The FCPS reps have no business running a lemonade stand vs a $3B enterprise.

[Anonymous]

Call your FCPS school board rep. I've called mine twice and all I get is voicemail. . Call your Fairfax County rep - at least someone answered my phone and took my info. No response.
I demand to know from FCPS:
1. What data about my child was shared?
2. Who, by name, shared the data?
3. Who is the legal representative for contact about this matter?

Next I'm contacting:
1. My congressional rep
2. My state rep
3. Dept of Education

FCPS is stonewalling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call your FCPS school board rep. I've called mine twice and all I get is voicemail. . Call your Fairfax County rep - at least someone answered my phone and took my info. No response.
I demand to know from FCPS:
1. What data about my child was shared?
2. Who, by name, shared the data?
3. Who is the legal representative for contact about this matter?

Next I'm contacting:
1. My congressional rep
2. My state rep
3. Dept of Education

FCPS is stonewalling.

They’re in so much trouble. They’ve been in this same trouble before too.

[Anonymous]

Nobody comes out of this smelling good. Callie is the latest person to discover that if you lie with dogs, you get up with fleas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much Callie’s 501c3 has been able to raise off of all this free publicity?

https://specialeducationaction.com/please-donate/

It’s tax deductible too! More money I don’t have to give to fcps not to protect my kids data.

So I did a little digging around on this, and here is what I found (apologize that it is so long)

Special Education Action Incorporated (Entity ID 11354161) is incorporated as a Virginia Nonstock [Non-Profit] Corporation. All corporate documents are publicly available on the website of the State Corporation Commission:
https://cis.scc.virginia.gov/EntitySearch/Index

Special Education Action Incorporated is registered as being exempt from federal income taxes under IRC 501(c)(3) / 509(a)(2) (Special Education Action Incorporated: EIN 88-1475436): https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/

In return for being tax exempt and receiving tax deductible contributions, Congress requires Section 501(c)(3) organizations to disclose information about their organization to the public. The requested information should be made available within two weeks (if the organization has no office or has limited hours). If someone asks for copies to keep, the organization has to provide them, regardless whether the request is made in person or in writing.
https://www.stayexempt.irs.gov/se/files/downloads/Required_Disclosures_Print_for_PDF.pdf

In addition to being registered with the State Corporation Commission and IRS, every charitable organization (except as otherwise provided for in the Virginia Solicitation of Contributions Law, VSOC), which intends to solicit contributions within the Commonwealth or have funds solicited on its behalf, is required to file an initial registration statement with OCRP prior to any solicitation. According to OCRP, "'Solicit' and 'solicitation' mean the request or appeal, directly or indirectly, for any contribution on the plea or representation that such contribution will be used for a charitable purpose..'". Further details:
https://law.justia.com/codes/virginia/2022/title-57/chapter-5/
https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/food-charitable-solicitation.shtml
https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/pdf/charitablesolicitationsfaqs.pdf

Special Education Action Incorporated's website has a 'Make A Donation' button and a donation form on its website, which states that: "Your tax-deductible donation will help ensure parents, educators, and students have the information and tools necessary to fully understand, address, and safeguard the unique needs of all students who require special education." (https://specialeducationaction.com/donations/form/)

A VDACS database search suggests that Special Education Action Incorporated is NOT registered with VDACS Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs (OCRP) as required by the Virginia Solicitation of Contributions Law:
https://cos.vdacs.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/char_search.cgi

"Any person who willfully and knowingly violates or causes to be violated any provision of this chapter [i.e., the Virginia Solicitation of Contributions Law (VSOC)] ... shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished for the first offense by a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 or by confinement in jail for not more than six months, or both, and for the second and any subsequent offense by a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $2,500 or by confinement in jail for not more than one year, or both. Whenever the Commissioner [of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services] has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of this chapter may have occurred, the Commissioner, upon his own motion or upon complaint of any person, may investigate any charitable or civic organization ... to determine whether such charitable or civic organization... has violated the provisions of this chapter. (VA Code § 57-59)

Ignorance of the law on the part of the Directors and Officers of Special Education Action Incorporated is no excuse for violating the law. Every donation received by Special Education Action Incorporated in violation of the VSOC Law should be considered a separate violation of the law.

The Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services responsible for enforcement of this law is Mr. Joseph Guthrie (Phone: [phone], email: [e-mail]). Further information:
https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/about-commissioners-office.shtml

Callie has made a business out of pointing out that FCPS is careless with students' privacy rights and has a history of violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). There is no doubt that FCPS can and should do better. There is also no doubt that Callie's tactics are despicable.

This is especially true since Callie's own not-for-profit is actively soliciting contributions in the Commonwealth of Virginia (among others, by having a 'Please Donate' button on her website) in violation of the Virginia Solicitation of Contributions Law. Tens of thousands of legitimate not-for-profit entities in Virginia follow the law and register with the VDACS Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs (OCRP) every year. Callie did not. That's a violation of the law. It is not smart for people who live in glass houses to throw stones.

Do you feel like your (or your child's) privacy rights were violated by Callie? One free and easy step you can take to make sure that Callie doesn't profit from her actions: contact Mr. Joseph Guthrie (Phone: [phone], [e-mail]), who--as the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services--is responsible for enforcement of this law. Fines and penalties are clearly spelled out in the law. The Commissioner is empowered to investigate any charitable or civic organization to determine whether such organization has violated the provisions of the law, and should--on behalf of the people of Virginia--take any legal steps necessary to ensure that every not-for-profit in Virginia (including Callie's) follows the law.

+1

[Anonymous]

Disagree. FCPS made an obvious mistake, which they owned. The parent who made the deliberate decision to post private information on the internet about other students is sharing information that they should not have. And that person knew better. They are hurting students with disabilities and their families - intentionally. The person needs to accept responsibilities for their irresponsible and hurtful actions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. FCPS made an obvious mistake, which they owned. The parent who made the deliberate decision to post private information on the internet about other students is sharing information that they should not have. And that person knew better. They are hurting students with disabilities and their families - intentionally. The person needs to accept responsibilities for their irresponsible and hurtful actions.

Yeah. They own it every time they get caught. That’s like the guy who hits every car in the parking lot and says “my bad”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. FCPS made an obvious mistake, which they owned. The parent who made the deliberate decision to post private information on the internet about other students is sharing information that they should not have. And that person knew better. They are hurting students with disabilities and their families - intentionally. The person needs to accept responsibilities for their irresponsible and hurtful actions.

Yeah. They own it every time they get caught. That’s like the guy who hits every car in the parking lot and says “my bad”.

Then they should face a consequence, whatever that is.
But that is entirely separate from what this woman did, which was intentional. And separate and apart from what FCPS. She should also face any consequence that falls on her.

[Anonymous]

FCPS only let parents know about the data issue because they were forced too. They haven’t said who else got this data and why there is a spreadsheet circulating when there is a system that holds this info.

I am certain they don’t reach out to parents when they send their child’s IEP to a different family. I reached out to a family when I got their child’s highly confidential information and they never heard from FCPS about it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS only let parents know about the data issue because they were forced too. They haven’t said who else got this data and why there is a spreadsheet circulating when there is a system that holds this info.

I am certain they don’t reach out to parents when they send their child’s IEP to a different family. I reached out to a family when I got their child’s highly confidential information and they never heard from FCPS about it

Exactly. Dozens of people have come forward saying the same thing happened to them. One reported they got info on Callie’s child. It was never reported because it was swept under the rug. Just because it didn’t end up with Goldwater doesn’t mean it’s securely stored. One click on a bad link, it’s on the dark web for sale.

[Anonymous]

FCPS should be held accountable for their carelessness.

And Callie should also be held accountable for violating privacy of thousands of families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not a lawyer - just a mom who loves their child. I hope there is a point of law that is not being considered in your response, because parents should not be able to deliberately hurt other parents and children like this. Why would this parent want information about other children? The parent had the choice to obtain information about their child only, and inform FCPS of the breach. Instead, the parent chose to save an electronic copy with sensitive data about other children. Then the parent redacted names and published a list. The lack of transparency about how the data is being stored and monitored leaves children and their families vulnerable and insecure. Had they reported the problem to FCPS and kept the data with FCPS, we would not have this problem. I don't know the law - but I do know ethics. This is flat out unethical. I feel betrayed by a fellow special needs parent. Life is hard enough, and I trust my special needs parent friends. We abide by ethical standards when we share private information, cry, celebrate, all in the safety of trust and silence. This parent does not have the same ethical standards. We need legal protection from parents like this person.

+1

This is a huge betrayal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS should be held accountable for their carelessness.

And Callie should also be held accountable for violating privacy of thousands of families.

And on page 65 of this thread, this statement sums it all up neatly. You can hand wave all you want (and that's been done REPEATEDLY over the past 65 pages) but this still holds true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS should be held accountable for their carelessness.

And Callie should also be held accountable for violating privacy of thousands of families.

And on page 65 of this thread, this statement sums it all up neatly. You can hand wave all you want (and that's been done REPEATEDLY over the past 65 pages) but this still holds true.

Exactly. 65 pages of back and forth. If you can find an attorney who will take your case, do it. What I’m seeing is a lot of people who I suspect already contacted an attorney and were told they don’t have a case who keep coming back here and “hand waving” hoping they can get some satisfaction for their misplaced anger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS should be held accountable for their carelessness.

And Callie should also be held accountable for violating privacy of thousands of families.

And on page 65 of this thread, this statement sums it all up neatly. You can hand wave all you want (and that's been done REPEATEDLY over the past 65 pages) but this still holds true.

Exactly. 65 pages of back and forth. If you can find an attorney who will take your case, do it. What I’m seeing is a lot of people who I suspect already contacted an attorney and were told they don’t have a case who keep coming back here and “hand waving” hoping they can get some satisfaction for their misplaced anger.

People can be angry at multiple things.

FCPS? Of course.

Callie? She is 100% responsible for her own actions. Anger towards her is not misplaced.