Lawsuit against Newport Harbor teacher dropped

Jessica Garrison

NEWPORT-MESA -- The attorney for a woman who filed a wrongful death

lawsuit against retired Newport Harbor High School teacher Dennis O’Hern

has dropped the lawsuit, saying he does not have enough evidence to prove

his case.

“I feel relieved. Vindicated,” O’Hern said. ‘It’s been hanging over me

for a year.”

On Jan. 4, 1998, Julie Snyder, a history teacher at Newport Harbor

High School who had clashed with O’Hern after students alleged that she

had given them answers to a statewide exam, committed suicide.

In June of that year, Snyder’s mother, Jacqueline Scheduling, filed a

wrongful death lawsuit against O’Hern and the school district. It accused

O’Hern of stalking, harassing and verbally abusing her daughter, driving

her to take her own life.

Last month, Schneidewind decided to drop the suit after she realized

she could never prove her case in court, said her attorney, Ronald

Powell.

“We have a real proof problem, in terms of the fact that the victim is

no longer with us, and in a court of law, you need proof,” Powell said.

“The family is disappointed, but the family really wants closure.”

Students, parents, former students and colleagues rushed to O’Hern’s

defense when news of the suit hit the community last fall, but the

lawsuit was still devastating, O’Hern said.

O’Hern said Schneidewind’s charges, including an accusation that he

repeatedly asked Snyder to go out to drinks with him were “a figment of

her imagination.”

“Nothing of the sort ever occurred,” he said.

O’Hern taught history at Newport Harbor from 1964 to 1998, and was by all accounts a demanding and beloved teacher.

He was chairman of the history department in the spring of 1997, when

Snyder was accused of helping her students cheat on the Golden State

Exam. Her students’ scores were invalidated and Snyder was suspended, but

was later allowed to return to the school in October, over Hern’s

objections.

Newport Harbor Principal Bob Boies said he was happy that the divisive

and hurtful case had finally come to an end.

“It was a very unfortunate incident,” he said. “Julie’s death was a

tragedy that hit Newport Harbor very hard, bit it was enhanced by the

situation with Denny O’Hern, who was one of the most respected teachers

in Newport Harbor.”

Joe Robinson, a teacher at Newport Harbor and a colleague of O’Hern’s

for decades, said he was thankful his old friend’s name was being

completely cleared.

“It shattered him, and he deserves the community to come out and say,

‘Sorry Denny,”’ Robinson said. “Everybody likes him, and the kids adored

him. He was one of the most popular teachers at the school, and to have

your career end with that accusation, it was pretty hard for him.

“Anyone who knows Dennis knows this would never have happened, and

that it was a totally unjustified accusation,” he added.

Karen Harrington, whose daughter, Kristine, was a student of O’Hern’s,

said she hoped he could now turn his attentions to enjoying his

retirement and continuing to be involved with the students he cared so

much about.

“He was absolutely one of Kristine’s favorite teachers,” she said,

adding that she would e-mail her daughter, who is at college in North

Carolina, and tell her the good news. “He’s done so much for the

community -- inside and outside the classroom.”

O’Hern still serves on the board of Newport Harbor’s foundation, and

also works with Earthwatch, an organization that helps students travel to

foreign countries for summer internships doing environmental and

archeological work.

O’Hern said he felt vindicated, but true to his reputation for

kindness and humor, he said one good thing had come of the lawsuit.

“I had an almost flawless 33 years of what I thought was being an

exemplary teacher, and I was devastated by the suit, as was my wife and

daughters and everybody else,” he said.

But the outpouring of support from students and former students had

been nice.

“Most people don’t say that many good things about you unless it’s at

your funeral,” he said.