Although the City settled the civil case for $82,500.00, the Department of Education has refused to hold Principal Ron Smolkin accountable for his retaliatory actions against one of the school's veteran teachers, Michael McPherrin, and McPherrin's spouse, Andre Lopes. Let the Mayor and Chancellor know that retaliating against whistleblowers using homophobic slurs is behavior incompatible with educational leadership and common decency. Remove Principal Ron Smolkin from Independence High School NOW!
Why is this important?
Why is the City willing to pay taxpayer dollars to settle a case of serious homophobic slander, and not hold the administrator responsible? He wrote that my partner and I used our pets as" lures" to seduce and infect the local boys with AIDS, so I (Michael) should be ousted from my apartment, and my foreign-born partner (Andre) deported. These malicious letters to my co-op management were copied to ICE, FBI, Precinct 36, IRS, and Homeland Security. The emotional terror this action inflicted upon us is difficult to describe. There are two forensics reports which tie Smolkin to the letters, (one in the office of the Manhattan DA), but the City refuses to act to remove Principal Smolkin.
