Former Bluffton principal settles defamation lawsuit against Beaufort County schools
Beaufort County School District has settled a defamation lawsuit with former principal Jerry Henderson for an undisclosed sum, according to recently filed court documents.
Henderson, the former principal of H.E. McCracken Middle School in Bluffton, filed the civil suit against the district in August 2019 about six weeks after resigning.
He claimed administrators had him abruptly barred from the school’s building and demoted him after accusing him of having “inappropriate relationships” with staff and causing fear among employees.
Henderson’s lawsuit was settled Dec. 10. Both district spokesperson Candace Bruder and Henderson’s lawyer, Elizabeth Bowen, declined to comment on the amount of the settlement.
The case was “amicably resolved,” per Bruder, and dismissed with prejudice, meaning that Henderson cannot file another lawsuit against the district.
What happened?
In the suit, Henderson said he arrived at work one morning in November 2018 and was met by a school resource officer who told him he was not allowed on school grounds. Henderson then was asked to meet with district human resources director Alice Walton and was escorted to her office by security, the lawsuit said.
Walton informed him he not only was being removed from his principal position but also would be demoted to assistant principal in response to the accusations, according to the lawsuit.
The district accused Henderson of engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a teacher in the summer of 2018, and of other inappropriate relationships with multiple staff members later in the year, the lawsuit stated. District officials told him they had interviewed his peers and subordinates about the accusations.
The lawsuit said Henderson refused the assistant principal position “because he did not engage in any misconduct,” and was then demoted to STEM coordinator at the district office.
Henderson said all the accusations were false, including a claim he had treated employees unequally.
In November 2018, Henderson was making $94,169 as principal of McCracken, a position he held for two years before being transferred to the district’s main office in Beaufort.
As principal, he was in charge of 79 employees, including 46 teachers, as well as support staff and administrators in the building, according to previous reporting by the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
As STEM coordinator, Henderson advised teachers at nine district schools to research best practices and create lesson plans. Henderson kept his principal salary in the position, though the STEM coordinator who previously held the job had made $30,000 less, according to a district database. It is unclear whether Henderson managed any employees as STEM coordinator, but the position posted by the district in August 2019 did not include managerial duties.
In the lawsuit, Henderson said he performed his job as principal “in a competent, if not more than competent, manner during his employment, as reflected by his various promotions” in the district.
Henderson joined the district in 2011 as an assistant principal at Beaufort Middle School and was interim director at the Beaufort-Jasper Academy of Career Excellence from 2015 to 2016 before becoming principal at McCracken.
He resigned from the district when his contract expired in June 2019, former district spokesperson Jim Foster told the Packet.
The school district came under fire in January 2019 about the differences in its treatment of Henderson and former Hilton Head Island principal Amanda O’Nan, who was placed on paid administrative leave during a district investigation into renewed accusations that she had conducted an on-campus extramarital affair with an on-duty Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
At the time, the district would not comment on the different treatment of the two principals, whether Henderson had been investigated, or the nature of the “inappropriate relationship” he was accused of.
After The Island Packet published a story about Henderson’s removal, the district issued a statement saying that Henderson was not transferred due to a sexual relationship.
In the lawsuit, Henderson cited subsequent coverage in The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette about his transfer and accused the district of demoting him and publishing information about the accusations, which the lawsuit said the district knew to be false.
“Defendant has caused and is liable for severe and continuing injury to Plaintiff’s reputation, diminished earning capacity and future benefits, humiliation, embarrassment, and pain and suffering,” the lawsuit said.
Henderson sought damages, but the lawsuit did not request a specific amount.