The two James Madison High School teachers fired for an alleged lesbian sex romp in a school classroom are looking for more action — in civil court.
Romance language teachers Cindy Mauro and Alini Brito are suing the city for $2 million, claiming that their names were dragged through the mud and they were wrongfully terminated from their tenured jobs at the Department of Education.
“[These teachers] had to deal with these false allegations of engaging in lesbian sex,” attorney Michael Valentine told reporters last week as he announced the lawsuit. “It’s been painful. Aside from losing their jobs, their reputations have been ruined.”
Both women were fired earlier this year for their actions on Nov. 20, 2009, when the two were caught “partially undressed in a classroom and engaging in sexually inappropriate behavior.”
A janitor found the two in a third floor classroom as students from the Bedford Avenue school put on a musical performance in the auditorium downstairs. When the janitor accidentally walked in on them, both teachers were naked and Mauro was between Brito’s legs, he said.
School officials tried to keep the salacious discovery under wraps — until news of what happened began spreading among the student body.
Soon, a Facebook page dedicated to the scandal entitled “the infamous Ms. Brito rumor” brought the incident to the attention of higher-ups.
Yet Valentine charged that “there wasn’t one person who testified seeing either one of them involved in a sexual act,” alleging that the Department of Education’s decision to fire the two teachers was based on the scandal rather than actual facts.
State arbitrators later ruled that the two were most likely having a sexual encounter. They allowed the teachers to keep their pensions.
The arbitrators also dismissed Mauro and Brito’s claims that they weren’t having sex: Mauro testified that she was giving Brito an insulin injection when they were discovered — even though she has no knowledge about insulin or how to give the shot.
Arbitrator Arthur Reigel, who handled Mauro’s case, said the teacher’s excuse defied logic.
“If Brito had low blood sugar, insulin would have harmed her,” Reigel wrote. “Yet, her excuse was that Brito needed insulin because her sugar level was low. [Mauro] is a liar.”
City attorneys say they haven’t seen Valentine’s lawsuit, but do not seem too concerned by it.
“We stand by the Department of Education’s decision in these cases,” city attorney Daniel Gomez-Sanchez said.
