Well, that didn’t take too long now did it?
The Orange County Register on Wednesday published a follow-up report on the aftermath of the failed attempt earlier this year to cancel at the last minute the production of the play “Rent” at Corona del Mar High School.
Instructor claims retaliation after ‘Rent’ lawsuit settlement
NEWPORT BEACH – A drama instructor who accused his school’s principal of canceling a production of the musical “Rent” because of intolerance toward gays, touching off a widely covered controversy, said today that he has been put on paid leave in retaliation.
Ron Martin, who oversees theater at Corona del Mar High School, said he learned this week that he is being investigated because someone alleged he boasted of getting the campus’ previous principal fired.
Martin denied making such a statement; district officials have said the principal left in good standing to accept another job.
The action comes one month after the Newport-Mesa Unified School District settled an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit in which it was accused of gay discrimination, a case triggered in part by the “Rent” production turmoil.
There is a “very vindictive administration at the district level that is just not going to let it go,” Martin said, adding that the move comes the same week that the campus’ new Gay Straight Alliance group debuts.
District officials declined to comment, citing the confidentiality of personnel issues. Read the complete OCRegister story HERE.
It never ceases to amaze me how far administrators are willing to go to retaliate for bad publicity they bring on to themselves.