Ex-teacher claims unwanted hugs; gets $775K settlement from Central Regional

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP - A former teacher at Central Regional High School, who claimed she endured unwanted advances from a colleague while school officials did nothing, has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit against the school board for $775,000, according to a document obtained by the Asbury Park Press.

Kellie Keiser, who worked at the high school for 18 years through 2019, agreed to drop her lawsuit against the Central Regional Board of Education and former colleague Michael Jordan in exchange for a $775,000 payment from the school board's insurance carrier, according to a settlement agreement obtained by the Press.

Keiser claimed in a lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Ocean County in December 2020 that Jordan engaged in "ongoing and severe daily open and obvious sexual harassment'' against her, including grabbing her hand to hold it, pressuring her to go out with him, repeatedly calling her "sweetheart,'' complementing her on her looks and clothing and even showing her pornographic photographs on his work computer.

When Keiser complained about the behavior to a superior, she was told to go to the police, the suit said.

Jordan in a written response filed to the lawsuit, denied "each and every allegation in the complaint.''

A response filed on behalf of the school board also denied the allegations.

The settlement agreement, signed by Keiser in July, said it was "not in any way an admission'' by the parties released from the suit, and payment "is made solely to avoid the inconvenience and cost of litigation and to resolve completely all of Keiser's claims against the released parties.''

Court records show the attorney representing the school board's insurance company first offered Keiser $62,501, plus attorneys' fees, to settle the suit in March 2021.

As the litigation proceeded without acceptance of the offer, he made another offer of $200,000 in November before the case was settled for the much larger amount in July, according to court records.

"That's the nature of negotiations,'' Eric L. Harrison, the attorney representing Central Regional's insurance carrier, said when asked about the large jumps in amounts offered to Keiser to settle the case.

"If you were to have her attorney tell you what the initial demand was, I think you would see quite a drop,'' said Harrison, of the Edison law firm Methfessel & Werbel.

Keiser's attorney, Keith Travers of the Fort Lee law office of Rosemarie Arnold, said his client's initial demand is not contained in the public record, so he cannot disclose it due to a confidentiality clause in the settlement. However, Travers said the demand was higher than the settlement amount.

"It was obviously a case where we felt it was the right resolution,'' Travers said of the settlement. "It allows her to gain closure and to move on with her life and move forward. The case came to that resolution, and people can draw their own conclusions from it.''

A clause in the settlement agreement precludes Keiser from discussing it. She also agreed not to seek employment with the school district in the future.

Public pension records indicate Keiser, 54, retired on disability from her $84,779-a-year job in 2020.

"The proceeds are being paid entirely by the insurance carrier, and the board pays a premium to a liability insurance carrier for a reason,'' said Harrison, to whom calls for comment on the settlement were referred by the Central Regional School Board's attorney, Christopher Dasti.

"It was a decision made by that insurance carrier where there were no admissions of wrongdoing and, in order to maintain its insurance coverage, the board was in a position where it had to permit the case to be settled in that fashion,'' Harrison said.

Among other allegations Keiser made in her lawsuit is that Jordan would come into her classroom uninvited and hug her in front of students, even though she repeatedly told him not to touch her; that he tried to persuade her to have a sexual relationship with him by telling her that her now-deceased husband was "arrogant and disagreeable;'' that he asked her how he could get his wife to have sex with him; and that he would stand behind her, invading her personal space, while she was working.

When Keiser complained to her supervisor, the superior "incorrectly told her that her only option was to 'take it to the next level,' and told her she would have to go to the police to  report (Jordan) and attempt to get a restraining order,'' the suit alleged.

It said Keiser was afraid to go the police for fear of retaliation. The suit alleged school officials "facilitated'' the sexual harassment by allowing Jordan to remain in the classroom directly across the hall from Keiser's for many years, despite her complaints.

When Keiser learned of the school district's affirmative action program through required online training, she immediately reported her allegations about Jordan to school officials in January 2019, the suit said.

School officials, however, in their ensuing investigation, refused to talk to students who had witnessed the alleged harassment, the suit said.

Jordan ""suddenly'' retired in June 2019, the suit said. After that, due to mold in her classroom, Keiser was transferred to Jordan's old classroom, which still had his nameplate on the door and pictures and articles honoring him on the walls, the suit said. She maintained that was in retaliation for her complaint.

"The allegations set forth above are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all of the allegations against defendants, but merely a representative example,'' the suit claimed.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ex-teacher settles sex suit against Central Regional for $775K