Teacher charged with DUI files EEOC complaint

Published 6:20 am Thursday, May 10, 2012

A Bagley Middle School teacher who was fired after pleading “no contest” to DUI on her way to open the school has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claiming discrimination.

Jennifer Zeigler, who taught for 25 years, alleges she was discriminated against by Murray County Schools on the basis of sex and disability. Zeigler, who said in an August 2011 hearing seeking to get her job back that she suffered from the disability of alcoholism, said she wasn’t under the influence of alcohol at work or school.

“Two male employees have been arrested in the past for driving under the influence, but were not discharged; in fact both male employees were promoted to management positions following their arrests,” Zeigler states in the complaint. “Another male was hired by the board after he had been arrested for driving under the influence.”

Mike Tuck, administrative services director for Murray County Schools, said he couldn’t confirm or deny whether that happened, but he said it hasn’t happened since he’s worked there or since Vickie Reed became superintendent in 2006. Tuck has worked for the school system for less than two years.

“Regardless, Ms. Zeigler’s situation is unique from all others in that she was three times the legal limit (for blood alcohol level), on her way to school in the early morning hours of a workday, where, but for her being pulled over and arrested, she would have arrived at school, where she would have surely put our students, parents and staff at risk of serious injury or death,” Tuck said.

Reed has said the circumstances of Zeigler’s March 2011 arrest were an important factor in the decision to fire her. Zeigler admitted to the Eton police officer who arrested her that she was on her way to school, police records show.

“The evidence shows that Ms. Zeigler would have reported to work with a blood alcohol content of .311 (with 0.08 being the legal limit) if she had not been arrested on the way,” the school system’s reply to the EEOC complaint stated.

After pleading “no contest” in Eton City Court in May 2011, Zeigler was placed on probation for 12 months and instructed to complete a drug and alcohol awareness program.

Messages left at a home number for a Jennifer Zeigler in Chatsworth were not returned.