Sun Valley teacher suspended for inappropriate Facebook posts, claims he was framed

Rob Hayes Image
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Teacher suspended, claims someone created fake Facebook page
A Sun Valley teacher is fighting to regain his job and his reputation. He claims someone created a fake Facebook account and posted inappropriate messages using his name.

SUN VALLEY, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A Sun Valley teacher is fighting to regain his job and his reputation. He claims someone created a fake Facebook account and posted inappropriate messages using his name.

Jason Duchan says a former student bent on ruining him, created the fake page.

"When I saw this, I couldn't believe it," Duchan said.

The page has since been taken down.

The John Francis Polytechnic High School teacher says school officials learned of the page last November and immediately suspended him pending an investigation.

They also sent a letter to parents, telling them that an employee had been removed for alleged misconduct.

Duchan says he fell apart watching his career disintegrate.

"I couldn't even leave the house for two weeks, and my life was destroyed," he said.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials said they don't comment on personnel matters. However, Los Angeles Police Department investigators confirmed they're trying to track down the person who set up the Facebook page.

Meantime, Duchan, a media arts instructor, is currently working as a substitute at a different school. He says LAUSD told him the only place he can get his own class is at John Francis Polytechnic High School, where he says staff, students and parents know him as the teacher who is still under investigation.

"For me to go back there would be dangerous because I could have gotten hurt physically, the kids could have said things, they could have damaged my car," Duchan said. "How could they send me back to the same location where they never exonerated me?"

Duchan accuses the school district of negligence and will likely file a lawsuit against the district.