Del. school principal fired following lawsuit alleging inappropriate meme of student

SUSSEX CO., Del. – Sussex Central High School Principal Dr. Bradley Layfield has been fired following a lawsuit by a former student.

We’re told Dr. Layfield received written notice on Saturday that he is being fired.

His attorney, Thomas Neuberger, says that Dr. Layfield “will not recount or release the false firing letter”, but that he “is not charged with creating or circulating the meme in question. He is only charged with showing the surveillance video to staff who he felt had a need to know after a two-alarm dangerous school fight with racial overtones.”

Neuberger also noted the following:

• The reasons given are false and defamatory
• Bradley will fight this at a public termination hearing where he will call student, faculty, and staff witnesses
• The firing violates his contract right to progressive discipline since he has never even been suspended or docked pay in the past
• The firing violates his federal constitutional rights to due process and the alleged reasons are vague, overbroad, and undefined

Neuberger also claims that the 7 votes to fire him last week were irregular on a 10 member School Board that needed 6 votes, because “two specific female Board members should have recused themselves for reasons they fully know, and the five remaining votes are not enough to terminate with a 10-person board”.

Additionally, Neuberger stated, “This vendetta against a highly regarded and widely respected school principal is politically driven for reasons I will eventually reveal, and they violate his constitutional right to freedom of family association because they are directed at his brother who stepped down as Board President under unjustified political attacks.

Emeka Igwe, Managing Partner of the Igwe Firm and one of the attorneys representing Aniya Harmon, released the following statement Monday afternoon:

“Aniya Harmon and her family are pleased by the school board’s decision to terminate the employment of the individuals responsible for sharing video of her exposed breast at Sussex Central High School.

What happened to Ms. Harmon is outrageous and we will ensure that those responsible for violating her privacy are held accountable. It is reprehensible to think that those we entrust to protect our students would share something so intimate, particularly in a joking manner.

Ms. Harmon and her family would like to see criminal charges for those responsible as a way to deter this from happening to another student at Sussex Central High School, any school in Delaware or around the country.”