CPS settles with former Lincoln Park High School administrators after 5-year court battle

Chicago Public Schools settled with two former Lincoln Park High School administrators last month, following a five-year legal battle that began after their 2020 firings based on claims that were eventually disputed.

The $700,000 settlement is a win for former interim Principal John Thuet and Assistant Principal Michelle Brumfield, who were fired over claims they mishandled instances of sexual misconduct while working as administrators, which were later found to be unsubstantiated.

Camie Pratt, whose daughter attended Lincoln Park High School, was hired by CPS in early 2019 to lead the Office of Student Protections, which was in charge of investigating student-on-student and discrimination complaints. Pratt accused her daughter’s basketball coach of grooming, complaining that he cut her playing time as retaliation and that Brumfield mishandled the case.

Later on in January 2020, Brumfield and Thuet were fired with no warning, they said, following another accusation after a boys’ basketball trip in winter 2019. Pratt’s Office of Student Protections alleged Thuet mishandled that case. The two administrators then jointly filed a suit against CPS and district officials including then-CEO Janice Jackson, alleging deprivation of due process, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Three coaches and a dean were also suspended.

The firings were met with anger from students and parents at Lincoln Park High, who responded with walkouts and protests at the school. A CPS Office of Inspector General’s report later found that Pratt’s claims were unsubstantiated and that she abused her position.

The three coaches and a dean were later reinstated. The coaches sued CPS a year after Thuet and Brumfield and received millions in settlement money from the district last year, but the administrators were terminated from their positions and placed on the district’s “do-not-hire” list, which is the internal CPS registry of former employees and job applicants blocked from working in the district. Both of their names were removed from this list in May.

While it feels good to have the truth come out, it is of little consolation, Thuet wrote in an email to the Tribune.

“My family and I were hurt beyond repair, but frankly it’s the kids and community for whom I feel most bad,” Thuet wrote.

Brumfield shared a similar sentiment over email, writing that she is still in education, but will never be the same. The kids who advocated for the administrators were right all along, she added.

“It was like being trapped in a horror movie. It’s scary as if something like this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone,” Brumfield wrote. “They say justice delayed is justice denied, and I feel that. But I am so appreciative of the community and kids.”