Decision in Plainview principal Karen Heitner's sex harassment case expected next year
Karen Heitner. Credit: LinkedIn
A decision in the disciplinary case against a Plainview-Old Bethpage principal accused of sexual harassment will likely be issued next year, after hearings in the matter concluded this week.
The hearings for Karen Heitner, principal of Pasadena Elementary School in Plainview, began in April and spanned eight months, with nearly two dozen witnesses testifying over 20 day-long sessions. Heitner has faced administrative charges alleging she touched two staffers inappropriately during a PTA luncheon in June 2024 and created a hostile work environment in her school. The district suspended the tenured principal in August 2024 and is seeking to fire her.
Heitner finished her testimony Wednesday after answering questions over three separate days. Heitner’s attorneys and the district’s attorney have been instructed by state-appointed hearing officer James Brown to file post-hearing briefs by Feb. 11.
After that, Brown is expected to issue a written decision with findings within 30 days, though the process could take longer.
In the case of Maria Dorr, the principal of the Amagansett School who was accused of stealing a $25 gift card intended for a coworker, hearing officer Timothy Taylor issued a decision clearing her of all charges in March, two months after briefs in that case were filed. Dorr’s case had seven hearings — roughly a third of Heitner’s.
In her testimony earlier this month, Heitner denied she sexually harassed two employees at a PTA luncheon or made sexual remarks on other occasions.
The two staffers, an occupational therapist and a speech therapist, have accused Heitner of sexual assault in separate lawsuits against her and the district. They testified in May the principal grabbed their buttocks at the luncheon and pushed forward, leaving them feeling angry and violated.
Heitner denied touching the speech therapist and said she touched the occupational therapist’s hip to get her attention to speak to her as the woman waited in line in front of an ice cream truck. Heitner said she and the occupational therapist were "fooling around" that day but the occupational therapist testified in May that she was "abused" by her principal.
Heitner also denied or downplayed other allegations against her, in which other employees said the principal created a toxic workplace and left them feeling humiliated or harassed.
In one incident, a computer technology aide said Heitner directed her to go onto the roof of the school to take photos of students. Heitner said the aide volunteered to do so with her.
Under cross-examination, the district's attorney, Christopher Mestecky, asked if a principal should ask a staffer to do something that could be a safety hazard even if the person volunteered. Heitner said Wednesday that looking back, she would have taken the photos herself.
The principal and her attorneys over the course of the hearings have argued that some of the staffers who accused her of misconduct were unhappy with certain changes she implemented at the school, did not like how she supervised them, or were angry with her because of how she handled unfounded allegations against them.
On Wednesday, when asked by Mestecky if she had any basis to say the occupational therapist and speech therapist had reason to "fabricate charges," Heitner said she didn’t know why the two women “are doing this.”
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.
