B-CC teacher, Dan Engler, filed a defamation lawsuit against Dr. Mooney and the Montgomery County Board of Education regarding a community message sent out by Dr. Mooney last year. Engler, who is currently on medical leave, claims that he was falsely accused of racist acts in the message. The lawsuit includes four counts: defamation, false light, declaratory judgment, and breach of contract, and was filed on August 21, 2023.
In the community message referenced, Dr. Mooney states, “Students reported to school administration that a teacher said to several African American students that he was ‘unable to distinguish them from other African American students’ in the classroom.” The first count, defamation, alleges that Engler was falsely accused of racism when Dr. Mooney released this message to the B-CC community. The case states that while the email did not directly state Engler’s name, the B-CC community could easily identify him as the subject of this Email, consequently defaming his name. “What was written by Dr. Mooney in his community-wide email bears no resemblance in words or message to what I actually said,” Engler said in an email to The Washington Post. “ … Dr. Mooney never asked me what happened or what I said. He went out of his way to avoid any discussion with me about the matter,” Engler continued. (The Washington Post)
The Tattler reached out to Dr. Mooney, however he was unable to comment due to his involvement in the lawsuit.
Engler hopes to be compensated with 75,000 dollars for both compensatory and punitive damages. Engler is also requesting Dr. Mooney and the Montgomery County Board of Education issue a public apology for the community message and the damages it ensued.
The initial message followed an alleged incident on February 8. The lawsuit claims that Mr. Engler had his “reputation destroyed by the malicious acts of Principal Dr. Mooney” and the Montgomery County Board of Education.
The second count Dr. Mooney and the Montgomery County Board of Education are being sued for is false light. This protects a person from the offense or embarrassment that arises from a misleading or untrue implied statement.
Dr. Mooney and the Montgomery County Board of Education are also being sued on one count of declaratory judgment and one count of breach of contract. The lawsuit claims Defendants failed to follow the Hate-Bias Incident Reporting Procedures when Mooney, as an agent of the Board, failed to conduct an investigation before sending the defamatory Email to the community. In so doing, Dr. Mooney and the Board of Education allegedly violated MCPS’s Hate-Bias Incident Reporting Procedures, policies, protocols, and practices in sending the community message and in their handling of this matter.
