Joelle Ogletree is suing the school district where she used to teach for wrongful termination. Five years ago, as a teacher at
Over time, one of the students recanted, while the other students were discredited. Through this ordeal, she was fired from her position, as well as ridiculed and shunned from her entire community. Joelle and her husband had to refinance their house twice to pay over $100,000 in legal bills, but she never gave up in spite of prosecutorial misconduct and school officials deliberately influencing the accusers to stand by their stories.
The fact that the student who admitted lying was the son of the mayor and that the other two constantly changed their stories several times was not disclosed to the public.
Unable to regain her teaching job despite her court victory, Joelle is basing her suit on the fact that the school officials interviewed the two initial claimants together which makes them less likely to admit a lie. They also called the students in for questioning over a dozen times, asking leading questions and encouraging them to stand by their unsubstantiated claims, before firing Mrs. Ogletree only a few days later. Even worse, Joelle Ogletree isn’t even allowed on school property, even as a volunteer at her daughter’s elementary school.