A cafeteria worker at Alabama Elementary School was fired for accepting donations to the school's lunch program before lying to the principal during public questions in a crowded lunch room.
Avette Dunn was fired from her position at Shelby Elementary School when the school board ruled that she couldn't trust her role following the October incident.
After working in the district for nearly a decade, Dan accepted a donation to the Oraganization (PTO) fund for school parents and teachers for school lunches. According to ABC 33/40.
However, the school argued that she was not part of Dan's job description because she was not trained to process the deal, the outlet added.
School board members voted to be fired after a six-hour hearing Monday night.
Before Monday, Dan had been at school, where his children were attending Birmingham's school 39 miles south, but had been suspended since October.
Dan's legal team argued that her job descriptions did not state that they could not raise money, and she spoke to the donor as she reached out to her first.
She also claimed she knew the funds were running out, and realised that she could not pay for a student's lunch if it fell below $200.
School principal Stacey Aderholt confronted workers in the crowded cafeteria in front of other employees and asked Dan about the donation.
Dan says she lied to Adderholt to protect the donor's identity, and she was scared to admit that she had accepted the gesture.
The funds were monitored by several workers in the cafeteria, and part of Dan's job was to ensure that student accounts had money for them.
The decision to fire Dan was based on her lying to the principal.
According to the outlet, “It's essential that you can trust,” said Stacey Adderholt, principal at Shelby Elementary School.
Dan's lawyers argued that none of the money was misused and that it was placed correctly in the fund.
They also pointed to reviews of Dan's employees who showed good records of employment, but the district noted that she was lying about the money and could not overlook it.
Dan said her firing was too harsh for what she did.
“I made a mistake. I think I should be able to go back to my job. In my opinion, I should have been suspended for two weeks,” she said at the hearing. “I don't think you should be fired just to not say it.”
