Douglas school security officer reinstated

An arbitrator has ruled that while the Douglas County School District had the authority to fire a security officer and reject his attempt to take the issue to federal court, the district didn't have cause to terminate Greg John.

The Nevada Supreme Court ruled last week that John's lawsuit accusing the school district of discrimination and civil rights violations didn't qualify for protection under federal law and that, therefore, the district was within its authority to discipline him.

But his lawyer Jeff Dickerson said that is a different issue from whether the case against John supports termination. He said arbitrator Charles Askin concluded it was not and ruled John should be reinstated.

District officials accused him of improperly accessing student disciplinary records. He had earlier been disciplined for allegedly making a videotape of special education students and made sexually explicit narrations regarding the people on the tape. He had sued, challenging both those allegations and charging the district with civil rights violations.

The arbitrator's order stated that the district had enough cause to suspend John and order training. But Askin ruled there was "insufficient credible evidence" to prove he was the one who accessed student disciplinary records and lied to district officials about it.

He directed the district to reinstate John in his job as a security officer for the district.

John was reinstated some time ago and Dickerson said he is now assigned to Whittell High at Stateline. He said the confusion arose because the arbitrator's order was not part of the case the high court ruled on last week.