School district pays hefty price for lawsuit settlement

The Hamtramck Public School District recently reached a lawsuit settlement filed by a former assistant principal that will cost close to $1 million. The district’s insurance company will pay a portion of that amount.

By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck Public Schools has settled a lawsuit against a former assistant principal for almost $1 million.
Former Kosciuszko Middle School Assistant Principal Christina Adamczyk filed a whistleblower’s lawsuit a few years ago, saying that Superintendent Jaleelah Ahmed and a district administrator retaliated against her for raising concerns how the district was complying with covid pandemic requirements.
Because of her criticisms of how they handled the health crisis, Adamczyk was demoted. The Review received a copy of the settlement by filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the school district.
According to payroll records, also obtained by The Review through a FOIA request, Adamczyk received $650,000 and her attorney, Gary Miotke, was paid $300,000.
According to the settlement agreement, neither the district nor Adamczyk can comment on the settlement.
Adamczyk was employed by the district for 22 years. She is no longer with the district.
According to Interim Superintendent James Larson-Shidler, the district’s insurance company pays $366,000 out of the total $950,000 settlement – meaning taxpayers are on the hook for over $584,000, which the district will have to pay through its own budget fund.
In her lawsuit, Adamczyk said she raised numerous concerns over the safety steps the district had not addressed, and that she also filed several complaints with the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA).
She said that the series of complaints resulted in retaliatory actions by Ahmed –including extra work that she said she was entitled to be compensated for, but was denied.
According to court records, Ahmed and the administrator described Adamczyk’s strident criticisms about the district’s shortcomings in taking necessary health preventions as Adamczyk being a “covid Nazi.”
In the midst of this, Adamczyk took a federally-allowed leave of absence, under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
She was eventually informed that she had been re-assigned as a social studies teacher at Hamtramck High School. But Adamczyk said that transfer was in violation of her contract as a member of the administrators’ union, which she says states that administrators can only be transferred to other administrator positions.
Her lawsuit also noted that, under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, employees are guaranteed to be able to return to their positions.
The district continues to face over a dozen lawsuits filed by former employees.
Ahmed is among those who sued the district, but a federal judge recently threw out her lawsuit.
She sued some Board of Education members, some of whom are no longer with the district, and the teachers’ union. She had claimed discrimination and the violation of her civil rights.
Ahmed is still employed by the district, but her role remains unexplained.
Despite Ahmed’s lawsuit against the district, the school board gave her a salary raise and extended the length of her employment contract in February of 2023.
The board did not require Ahmed to withdraw her lawsuit against the district.
Soon after that contract salary raise and extension, Ahmed took another medical leave and she was subsequently suspended with pay.
The district has refused to explain why Ahmed was not allowed to return to work.
Board President Jihan Aiyash, who is seeking re-election, voted for Ahmed’s salary increase and contract extension.
While Ahmed was still acting as superintendent, a number of veteran employees left the district, citing a “hostile” work environment created by her and some of her administrators.
Posted Oct. 18, 2024