First Candice Egan was assaulted by a student in a St. Paul public school, then she was allegedly “blacklisted” from continuing to teach in the district.

The reason? Egan spoke to the media about what had happened.

That’s the claim the substitute teacher made in a lawsuit filed against the school district as well as two of its administrators in federal court earlier this past week, according to the complaint.

Egan is seeking financial damages as well as the reinstatement of her right to work in St. Paul Public Schools, legal documents say. Alternatively, she is asking for “front pay” equaling what she would make if her substitute teaching career were allowed to continue there.

Jerry Skelly, a spokesman for St. Paul schools, declined to comment on the suit, which essentially alleges the district was negligent in its duty to protect Egan’s safety when she was assaulted by a student last March. Egan also states her constitutional right to free speech was violated when the district reportedly retaliated against her after she talked to the press about the incident.

Egan was subbing at St. Paul’s Creative Arts Secondary High School March 22 when her class of seventh graders became “extremely unruly,” the complaint says.

Some students were so disruptive a teacher’s aide reportedly had to take them to the principal’s office.

When the aide was away, the classroom climate escalated and Egan called the front office for backup. Though someone arrived to help, the individual left shortly after, the suit said. Two of her subsequent calls to the front office reportedly went unanswered.

At some point, Egan noticed a student was using his cellphone after she had previously asked him to put it away. When she confiscated it, he allegedly became angry and started swearing at her, the suit said.

“Give me my phone you (expletive) (expletive),” the student reportedly said before shoving Egan into a window.

When his pushing continued, Egan asked other students in the class to intervene. They didn’t, and she tried to again call the office for help, but every time she dialed the student would hang up the phone, the complaint said.

Eventually, a nearby teacher heard her calls and came in to intervene.

Egan reported the assault to the school office and filled out an injury form about what had happened, the suit says. She noted at the time that her neck and right shoulder were hurting and was reportedly later interviewed about what had happened by the school’s principal, Carlondrea Hines.

Egan sustained an injury to her shoulder during the assault that required surgery, her attorney said.

Egan, who is an employee of Teachers on Call — an organization that pairs substitute teachers with school districts — also reported the incident to her employer, according to legal documents.

Egan later learned that the student had been suspended and she received an apology from Hines, the suit said.

At the urging of the school district’s Security and Emergency department, Egan filed a report about what had happened with St. Paul police on March 24.

She was contacted by a reporter with the Pioneer Press the following day about what had happened. She agreed to be interviewed after determining the “assault, and violence in St. Paul schools generally, was an important issue to tell the public about,” the complaint said.

She was subsequently interviewed by several other media outlets.

Days later, while substitute teaching at St. Paul’s Johnson High School, Egan got a call from Teachers on Call. She learned the district had requested she be removed from any teaching jobs in the St. Paul school district for the remainder of the year, the suit says.

“The district is seeking some space after perceiving that recent media spotlight was inappropriate,” Teachers on Call noted in its incident report, according to the complaint.

Egan has not worked in the St. Paul school district since.

“To first be assaulted at a school and then when you are trying to continue to work with the district to then be blacklisted… it can have very profound emotional impacts, Doug Micko, Egan’s attorney, said about the toll the incident and its aftermath has had on Egan.

“This is her job, it’s her vocation,” he said.

Egan has worked for South Washington public schools since the incident but the St. Paul school district is more conveniently located to her home, Micko said.

She relies on the income from subbing to bolster her pension, Micko said. He added that Egan worked as a sub for St. Paul schools for three years prior to the assault. And she worked as a full-time teacher for about 20 years in Arizona before shifting to subbing.

In addition to the lawsuit, Egan pursued criminal charges against the student who allegedly assaulted her, Micko said.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s office charged a 12-year-old with fourth-degree assault in the case and he pleaded guilty in May, according to spokesman Dennis Gerhardstein. He said he couldn’t release information about the sentence because of the juvenile’s age.

While declining to issue a comment this week, a St. Paul school spokesman said back in March that talking to media is not a reason the district terminates working relationships with subs.

The spokesman also added: “The situation with Ms. Egan is unusual in that it involved a dispute with a student that led to a police report. The district is reviewing the situation. It is a practice of SPPS to not ask substitutes back to work during an ongoing police or district investigation, as is the case with Ms. Egan.” Related Articles Suspect sends Rochester police suicidal messages, flees, dies causing head-on collision

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In addition to infringing on her right to free speech, Egan alleges the district was negligent when it failed to properly protect her as a teacher. Her suit claims the district was aware of the hostile climate in district schools as the number of assaults occurring within them continued to climb.

She had also been warned by school staff that the class she was overseeing when she was allegedly attacked was “particularly challenging,” and that she should call the office for help should concerns arise.

Egan declined to comment. Teachers on Call did not immediately return a phone call inquiring about the suit.