Sep 10, 2015 5 min read

Peters Township School District is asking Washington County Court to overturn an arbitrator’s decision reinstating a fired high school teacher accused of having a romantic relationship with a student more than a decade ago while working in another state.

Christopher Whalen, represented by an attorney for Peters Township Federation of Teachers, claimed at the 2012 arbitration hearing there is a five-year limitation in the union’s contract on using “derogatory material … as a basis for progressive discipline.”

Whalen was fired after the allegations came to light, but an arbitrator ruled in 2013 he must be reinstated. The district refused, and he has since been on paid leave. The district claims the arbitrator’s decision “grossly offends the morals of the community and is plainly immoral.”

The allegations against him came from a woman, not identified in court documents, who now lives and works in South Africa. In Virginia, she entered high school in fall 1997 and got to know Whalen, who was described as “a popular young teacher.” She testified at the arbitration hearing that during her junior year in late 1999, their relationship became physical and then, in 2000, became sexual, according to the arbitrator’s report.

“The witness had saved a large volume of written communications she received from Whalen during this period,” arbitrator Howard Grossinger noted in his August 2013 report. While those communications make it clear Whalen had a strong romantic attraction to the woman, they do not refer directly to any sexual conduct, the report states.

According to the arbitrator’s report, the woman said she broke off the relationship in early spring of that year, by the conclusion of her junior year in high school. The woman did not report the relationship until September 2012 because “she was very uncomfortable with the subject and didn’t know how to deal with it,” the report indicates.

She reported the relationship to police in Virginia, where a statute of limitations may have hindered prosecution.

“There was no evidence of any pending criminal or other proceedings by any Virginia authorities against Mr. Whalen relating to the allegations by the witness,” the arbitrator noted.

The woman sent a letter to the principal of Peters Township High School, including copies of the communications she said she had received from Whalen.

Once the allegations surfaced, the district gave Whalen the opportunity to address them, but he chose to waive his right to a hearing and was suspended without pay Sept. 24, 2012. The board voted to fire him the next month, and that’s when he challenged his termination through a grievance.

At the arbitrator’s hearing, Whalen “confirmed aspects of his relationship with the student but strongly denied any sexual activities had taken place. He admitted he had been infatuated with her …,” the report states. The federation presented evidence that there was no record of any allegations of inappropriate relationships between Whalen and any student when he taught in Virginia, Iowa or at Peters Township.

Peters Township School District argues in its petition that “returning a teacher to the classroom who admittedly engaged in a romantic relationship with a student half his age contravenes a well-defined, dominant public policy,” and that if the conduct happened under current state law it would be institutional sexual assault.

Although the alleged events in Virginia occurred more than five years before it discharged Whalen, the district claims it acted as soon as it became aware of the actions in 2012. The district also argues that the allegations had never before been in his personnel file.

Grossinger’s report called Whalen’s alleged conduct “reprehensible” and “loathsome” and said “the district’s quick action in removing (Whalen) from his position was appropriate in this case.”

However, he ruled the five-year limitation in the contract applied and that Whalen must be reinstated beginning with the 2013-14 school year.

The superintendent, with the board’s agreement, refused to take that action. Instead, Whalen has been kept on paid administrative leave since the arbitrator handed down his findings in August 2013.

The district, in its petition, says it “has no intention of ever returning (Whalen) to a classroom,” and that the arbitrator’s ruling means he is “collecting a taxpayer funded paycheck while remaining at home and performing no services.” The district further maintains that its former solicitor, Jack Cambest, never advised it of its right to ask the court to vacate Grossinger’s decision in 2013, and that it only became aware of its right to appeal when a new solicitor questioned why that had not occurred.

An arbitration decision may be appealed within 30 days, but the district asked Washington County Court for permission to proceed “now for then,” citing state Supreme Court precedent.

Shelly Belcher, communications coordinator for Peters Township, said Whalen was hired prior to the start of the 2006-07 school year. The Peters Township Federation of Teachers website listed Whalen as a math teacher.

“When made aware of the allegations against Mr. Whalen in September 2012, the district acted immediately and he was removed from the classroom and has not returned. The safety of our students is of the utmost concern to the administration and board of school directors,” Belcher said in a statement on behalf of the district. “While this is an ongoing personnel matter restricting information that can be shared with the public, the district is continuing to move forward advocating for action that is in the best interest of our students.”

Stephen Jordan, who is representing Peters Township Federation of Teachers, did not return calls seeking comment.