Verceles

INTRODUCTION

Junnie Verceles was a middle school teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Over several years, and despite repeated (and well-documented) counseling and guidance, Verceles was unable to maintain a professional demeanor in the classroom. The District terminated Verceles’s employment after he pushed an eighth-grade student out of his classroom, threw the student’s backpack out the door, used profanity, and told the student to leave. Verceles sued the District, asserting causes of action for age discrimination (Verceles is over 40), race and national origin discrimination (Verceles is Filipino), and retaliation (Verceles filed a discrimination complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH)), all under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (Gov. Code, § 12940 et seq.) (FEHA). In two prior appeals we reversed an order granting and affirmed an order denying the District’s special motions to strike under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (commonly known as the anti-SLAPP statute),1 rejecting the District’s contention its investigation into Verceles’s misconduct and decision to terminate his employment was protected speech-related…