Peekskill Teacher Slaps District with Lawsuit over Birth Control Pills
A Peekskill elementary school teacher and his wife have filed a lawsuit against the district for birth control pills given to their daughter without their knowledge three years ago.
Anthony Jackson, a teacher at Woodside Elementary School who has been “reassigned to home since January 2014 due to a pending disciplinary matter,” according to the Board of Education, and his wife Eva are seeking compensatory and punitive damages in their legal action filed May 30 in state Supreme Court.
The Jacksons allege James Tosto, a psychologist at Peekskill High School, and his wife Dawn, employed by the Hudson River Community Health Center, conspired in June 2011 to transport their daughter off the high school campus during school hours to the health center and provided her with birth control pills following a physical examination.
The couple also claimed they notified former Superintendent of Schools James Willis about what occurred but Willis took no action against the Tostos’ despite “repeated assurances.”
Anthony Jackson has worked for the district since 2001 and was also head coach of the girls’ junior varsity volleyball team. Reportedly, he was fined 15 days pay for allegedly assaulting James Tosto when he confronted Tosto about the pills in 2011.
In a written statement, the Board of Education stated it had not been served yet with either the lawsuit or a notice of claim but called the report of the legal action “an intimidation tactic on the part of the plaintiff.”
“Evidently, there may be an opportunistic connection between Mr. Jackson’s current status and this specious lawsuit,” the Board of Education stated. “Should this lawsuit be commenced, the district intends to vigorously defend itself in this matter.”
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