Teacher Gives Lawsuit Funds To Domestic Violence Prevention

BAY CITY, Mich. (AP) - A former teacher is donating funds she received in a settlement with a Michigan charter school to organizations that work to curtail domestic violence.

The Bay City Times reports that Mika Yamamoto filed the suit in 2017 against Renaissance Public School Academy, Principal Lisa Bergman and Michigan Educational Personnel Services over alleged First Amendment violations and racial discrimination.

Court records say Yamamoto gave a speech in November about domestic violence and discrimination against women. The lawsuit alleged that Yamamoto was suspended and then fired from her position as a fifth grade teacher after the speech. Yamamoto is an Asian American and had been employed at the school since August 2016.

Yamamoto says she donated $30,000 of the $45,000 settlement to A Safe Place, an Illinois-based organization that addresses domestic violence.