PARK CITY, Utah—  Former elementary school teacher, Kathy Moore, has filed a lawsuit alleging that Park City School District retaliated against her for reporting sexual harassment on behalf of her female students.

Moore was hired by the district at on a one year contract for the 2020-2021 school year at Parley’s Park Elementary School. The lawsuit alleges that in December of 2020, several of her students had complained that a male student was sexually harassing them on the playground by inappropriately touching them.

Moore reported the incident to the school’s principal, Derek Houck, who responded by segregating the class by gender and prohibited students from talking or playing together outside of the classroom. The girls sat on one side of the room, the boys sat on the other.

However, Moore claims Houck’s solution didn’t solve the problem and instead concerned parents about the effect a segregated classroom had on their students. According to the lawsuit, the elementary school received numerous complaints.

“Beyond segregating Ms. Moore’s classroom by gender, Principal Houck took no steps to investigate the female students’ complaints, correct the behavior of the accused male student, or protect female students from further sexual harassment,” the lawsuit states.

Several weeks after Moore reported the harassment, the district transferred her to Trailside Elementary School and without explanation, Moore was stripped of her teaching duties and was instead made a “permanent substitute teacher.”

The lawsuit says, “Despite repeated requests for clarification regarding her employment status, the District refused to give her a job description or specific job duties, and rarely allowed her to actually substitute teach.”

Moore was not only told her one year contract would not be renewed into the next year, but also was blacklisted by the district the lawsuit alleges, making it difficult for her to get another teaching job in a different district.

It also states the district refused to hire Moore for multiple open positions despite her extensive experience as an educator for over 25 years.

Moore then filed a Title IX lawsuit.

“No teacher should be retaliated against for protecting their students,” says Ms. Moore, “I am concerned for the safety of our Park City School District students. I am equally concerned that the District’s decision to punish a teacher for reporting sexual harassment of a student will discourage others from coming forward in the future.”

The district told KSL TV they had not been served yet and would not comment on pending litigation.