CHARLESTON – A Harrison County teacher says she was retaliated against after being a victim of sexual harassment from her former principal.
Barbara Clutter-Watt filed her complaint February 1 in Kanawha Circuit Court against West Virginia Schools of Diversion and Training, West Virginia Department of Education, Jacob Green, Robert Matthew Kittle, Youth Academy LLC and Sarah Fairley.
The Schools of Diversion and Training is an organization responsible for the education of individuals in juvenile correction centers, juvenile detention centers, residential treatment facilities, adult correctional centers, regional jails and truancy diversion programs. Green is WVSDT’s superintendent. Kittle is principal of the WVSDT school located on the premises of Youth Academy in Fairmont, and Fairley is Youth Academy’s program director.
According to the complaint, Clutter-Watt was hired by WVSDT in February 2009 as an English teacher. She later became a social studies/special education teacher. In 2019, she was named WVSDT’s Teacher of the Year.
Upon being hired, the plaintiff says she was almost immediately subjected to constant, unwelcomed, inappropriate and egregious sexual harassment and sexual advances from Kittle.
Clutter-Watt says Kittle’s secretary Sheena Beto recommended she apply for the teaching position in 2009. She says when Kittle saw a photo of her and said she “had the look” Kittle was attracted to.
“Kittle often bragged that plaintiff was offered her position based upon how she looked in a picture, and only after the fact, Kittle found out that plaintiff was intelligent,” the complaint states, also noting Kittle said he hired women based on the “Wall Test,” which she calls perverse and depraved.
The “Wall Test” involves “making a determination as to whether a female employees’ breasts would touch a wall before her feet if she walked into it,” according to the complaint, adding that Green said the defendants were “well aware of” the test.
Soon after she was hired, Clutter-Watt says Kittle called her several times after school hours asking her on a date at Stuart’s Park near his farm in Barbour County. When she declined, trying to be polite, by saying he was her boss and it wouldn’t be appropriate, Kittle said “he could take care of that,” implying he could have her fired to make it possible.
“From that point forward, plaintiff remained in fear that her employment with WVSDT was contingent upon subjecting herself to, and tolerating, Kittle’s harassment,” the complaint states.
The 24-page complaint details many instances of Kittle’s harassment.
Clutter-Watt said she wore dresses in warmer months, but did so out of fear because she would be subjected to harassing comments about her legs from Kittle.
In November 2010, she says she requested time off for a doctor’s appointment. Kittle demanded to know more. When she said it was an OB/GYN appointment, Kittle told her “she could save sometime, come into his office and he could examine her because he was an amateur gynecologist.” He did that again in June 2017.
On multiple occasions, she says Kittle implied she could get preferential treatment in exchange for sexual favors. She says he brazenly and openly harassed her, even telling Beto to hold his calls while making passes at the plaintiff in his office.
In 2011, Clutter-Watt says she was having problems with her boyfriend at the time. Kittle offered to build a wing onto his home for her despite him being engaged at the time. As the wedding neared, he told her “she had lost her chance.”
After Kittle was married, Clutter-Watt says the harassment didn’t stop. He attacked her Italian and Cherokee heritage near Thanksgiving when he says she was part of “the new Italian Tribe, the ‘Wop-ahoe.’” He also make jokes that included her Catholic religion and other religions.
When she was decorating her classroom for Christmas, Clutter-Watt says she got glitter in her hair. Kittle joked in front of others the glitter was “from her job last night,” implying she worked as an exotic dancer.
In 2012 before a state audit of the facility, Kittle informed all female staff to “wear short skirts and low-cut shirts,” saying Clutter-Watt “definitely needed to wear a short skirt and heels to show off her great legs.”
In 2015, there was a school field trip to Kittle’s farm. All staff were required to attend or take one of their accrued personal days. At the farm, he told all in attendance where he planned to build his house as well as the wing he was building for Clutter-Watt.
In 2016, a counselor brought a traditional yule log to decorate plaintiff’s classroom.
“Kittle, like a pre-pubescent teenager, took the log from plaintiff, held it near his midsection and said, ‘Yeah, that’s about right,’ referencing the size of his penis,” the complaint states. “Kittle frequently referred to the size of his penis in front of plaintiff throughout her tenure at WVSDT.
“Another example of Kittle referring to his penis was when a group was selling submarine sandwiches at the school, Kittle commented in the presence of plaintiff that the sandwiches were thick and long and stating, ‘it was pretty close.’”
In January 2018, Clutter-Watt says she dressed up for work and walked out of her classroom. Kittle and at least two teachers were standing in the hallway. When he saw her, he said, “Wow! Who is this new teacher?” before grabbing her hand to introduce himself.
“As he was shaking plaintiff’s hand, he moved toward plaintiff, forcing himself against her and backing her against the wall,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff, out of fear and uncomfortableness, could only cower until Kittle backed away allowing plaintiff to escape.
“One of the teachers who witnessed this atrocious behavior commented on how ‘uncomfortable’ the situation seemed for plaintiff.”
In 2021, Clutter-Watt parked in the teachers’ parking area which directly faced Kittle’s office. As she was headed into the school, she heard banging on Kittle’s office window.
She “looked up to see that Kittle had pulled down his pants, spread his legs and pressed his bare buttocks and scrotum against his office window,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff was absolutely stunned and appalled at this unhinged act of perversion.”
She said that incident caused her to have an anxiety attack and had to focus on calming herself down so she didn’t exacerbate her heart condition.
There are a few times when the power went out at school that Clutter-Watt says Kittle propositioned her to “take one for the team” before he’d dismiss school early.
In November 2021, Kittle’s behavior was reported to WVSDT. An investigation by Green ensued. Clutter-Watt says the report was made by another female worker. She says it wasn’t the first time Kittle had been reported to the WVSDT, which knew of his propensity for harassment.
“The mindset of plaintiff at this time was to survive Kittle’s abuse until his retirement, which was supposed to be later in the school year such that she would be free of the almost daily harassment and veiled threats of termination from Kittle,” the complaint states.
She says Kittle was placed on administrative leave during the investigation and that several WVSDT employees were interviewed. She says Green promised her she “was protected” from retaliation and assured her “she is in no danger” by taking part in the investigation. During the investigation, Clutter-Watt says she learned for the first time Kittle didn’t have the power to fire her.
After three weeks of investigation, Clutter-Watt met with Green and WVSDT Director Jared Hughes on December 17, 2021. Green confirmed “he believe this happened” to plaintiff and that WVSDT “knows there has been misconduct,” admitting they knew about the Wall Test. Again, he assured Clutter-Watt she was protected from retaliation.
Green also told her he’d make sure Kittle wasn’t on school property, but that he couldn’t do anything to keep Kittle from entering Youth Academy property that wasn’t part of the school facility.
Sometime between that meeting and January 25, 2022, WVSDT decided no punishment was necessary for Kittle. WVSDT decided to let him retire and keep his retirement benefits.
Green texted Clutter-Watt on January 25, 2022, to inform her of a retirement party for Kittle on January 27. He also said she could take the day off without using personal time.
That same day, she says a Youth Academy employee told her about the planned retirement party. Another YA employee overheard the conversation and reported it to YA Program Directors Terry Collins and Fairley. The next day when Clutter-Watt passed the same employee in the hall and said hello, the employee said he was told not to talk to her by Collins and Fairley.
She says this upset her, causing her anxiety to spike and chest pains to develop. She says she made to leave school. She says Green texted her almost immediately and recommended she explore other job opportunities because, she says, he knew YA was retaliating against her for her role in the Kittle investigation.
Clutter-Watt says Fairley was emailing Green almost daily to report on her activities and things she said. She says Green simply told her to “watch out for staff member that hang out in the office because they are the ones listening and watching.”
Kittle retired January 28, and Clutter-Watt said she was waiting for the new principal to see if she would stay there.
On February 16, 2022, Clutter-Watt said her car alarm went off but school staff reported no problems. A week later, she says she found a nail had been driven into one of her car tires.
Later in February, Beto said she was “done with plaintiff” because she proved Beto was lying during the Kittle investigation. She says Beto said speaking the truth “was unforgivable and ruined reputations.”
On March 9, Clutter-Watt had chest pains. She says Hughes stopped in her classroom to tell her to consider taking a less stressful job. She had to leave school to get medical attention.
On March 11, Clutter-Watt learned Kittle was coming to the school to have his vehicle serviced in the school garage and was having lunch with Beto and others. She says she called Hughes, who said he would take care of it. New WVSDT Principal Michael Ferguson assured her Kittle wouldn’t enter the classroom area. But, he did.
That’s when Clutter-Watt requested a transfer from the YA facility. But, she says the retaliatory conduct by WVSDT continued. She says order requests for supplies are delayed, stalled or rejected.
Clutter-Watt accuses the defendants of creating a hostile work environment through sexual harassment, quid pro quo harassment, by failure to act and by failing to enforce state Board of Education policy. She also accuses them of retaliation in violation of the state Human Rights Act and in violation of the state Whistle-Blower Law as well as civil conspiracy and negligence.
She seeks compensatory damages for embarrassment, humiliation, annoyance, inconvenience, loss of dignity, emotional distress and severe and permanent personal injuries. She also seeks punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs, pre- and post-judgment interests, injunctive relief from further acts of reprisal and other relief.
Clutter-Watt is being represented by Charleston attorney Philip A. Reale II. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 23-C-92