Sam McNair, 17, was suspended from Duluth High School in suburban Atlanta when a school hearing officer decided that he was in violation of the Gwinnett County Public Schools’ rules on sexual harassment, according to KCTV.
McNair’s hug was captured by a surveillance camera. It shows McNair entering a room and wrapping “his arms around the back and front of the teacher and tuck his head behind her neck.” The teacher testified to the hearing officer that McNair’s cheeks and lips touched the back of her neck and cheek.
McNair denied he kissed his teacher or sexually harassed her and, in fact, said he has hugged his teachers in the past with no problems.
“Something so innocent can be perceived as something totally opposite,” said McNair.
The teacher alleged that she warned McNair that hugs were inappropriate, but the student denies this claim.
The student’s mother, April McNair, is furious that her son’s college scholarship is in limbo. She said neither the school nor the district notified her that her son alleged history of hugging teachers inappropriately. She believes the punishment is exorbitant and imperils her son’s educational future.
“He’s a senior. He plays football and was getting ready for lacrosse and you’re stripping him of even getting a full scholarship for athletics for college,” said April McNair.
An independent education attorney believes the district failed the son by not educating the students about what constitutes sexual harrassment.
“The school district should do a very good job communicating to both parents and students what appropriate contact is between students and teachers and to the extent that they have not done that it was an extreme punishment for the student,” said attorney Sharese Shields Ages.
But Gwinnett County Public Schools spokesperson Sloan Roach countered that “hearing officers consider witness testimony, a review of the known facts, and a student’s past disciplinary history…when determining consequences.”
And, indeed, Sam McNair does have a record of discipline and previous suspensions. However, none of the past disciplinary problems were of a sexual nature.
“You never know what someone’s going through. A hug might help,” said Sam McNair.
