MANSFIELD — The Mansfield City School board of education agreed to pay former high school assistant principal Fuzzie Davis $383,000 to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit.
The agreement was approved by the board Sept. 1, a copy of which was obtained Thursday by Richland Source through a public records request.
Davis will not return to the district as an employee, a reinstatement ordered by Richland County Common Pleas Court Judge Brent Robinson in May when he ruled against the district in Davis’ lawsuit.
The agreement stipulates Davis’ retroactive reinstatement to the position of assistant principal, effective April 18, 2018, through the end of the 2019-2020 school year.
Settlement Agreement between MCS and Fuzzie Davis
The agreement also requires Davis to tender an irrevocable letter of resignation for personal reasons, effective June 30, 2020.
Davis also agreed not to seek reinstatement or future employment with the district after that date. The agreement clarified her resignation was not an admission of guilt.
Both parties were released from liability and agreed not to pursue further litigation. Davis agreed to dismiss with prejudice two active cases against the school district.
The agreement was signed by Davis and the lawsuit defendants, including board President Renda Cline, board Vice President Gary Feagin, board members Chris Elswick and Cheryl Weber, former board member Judy Forney, former Superintendent Brian Garverick, former Treasurer Robert Kuehnle, former assistant superintendent Mark Manley and former assistant high school principal Scott Musser.
Davis, the former assistant principal at Mansfield Senior High School, sued the district in March 2019, four months after referee R. Lee Shepherd ruled she had been wrongfully terminated in April 2018.
