TOLEDO, Ohio — A transgender woman will get nearly $30,000 from Paulding Exempted Village Schools after she was fired from her job as a school bus driver for a false DUI arrest in Defiance in 2021.
Bobbi Shaffer filed a discrimination lawsuit in Lucas Common Pleas Court in February against the district alleging that it discriminated against her when it terminated her in 2022 because she is transgender.
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Shaffer said she was completing a DoorDash delivery on Dec. 27, 2021, when she was pulled over by Defiance police.
In bodycam video, Officer Whitney Schalk stated that she pulled Shaffer over for a complaint that she had been "driving all over the roadway," and "going left of center a couple of times."
Shaffer completed field sobriety tests and was arrested.
She completed a urinalysis test at the Defiance police station and was fired days later from her jobs at DoorDash and Paulding Exempted Village Schools.
During that time, she said she learned that a person she knew, and who disliked her transgender lifestyle, admitted to two others that he had made the false complaint to Defiance police officers of Shaffer swerving the night of the DUI arrest.
Four months later, the urinalysis test results confirmed there were no drugs or alcohol in Shaffer's system, but the damage had already been done.
"Basically, (they said) 'Sorry we got it wrong. We messed up your life, but sorry we got it wrong,'" Shaffer said.
The settlement from the school district's agreement awards Shaffer $18,429.46 and $11,570.54 for attorney's fees to resolve her claims of emotional distress, anxiety, humiliation and embarrassment.
The district will also provide Shaffer with a letter of recommendation signed by the Board Superintendent and "copies of the records reflecting the driving by Shaffer with an On-Board Instructor while employed by the Board."
In the lawsuit, Shaffer claimed that her termination from the district was sudden and that it was because her commercial driving license had been suspended due to the DUI charge. But her CDL had not been suspended, she said.
Shaffer claimed, "similarly situated, cisgender employees were treated more favorably and were not terminated over the same issues" and that prior to her termination she was also "questioned about makeup and nail polish, which had no relevance or effect on her job performance," according to the lawsuit.
Shaffer also alleged the OAPSE Local 4 union declined to file a grievance on her behalf or "take any affirmative steps" to represent her.
"(Shaffer) has suffered the loss of her employment, past and future wages and benefits, diminished earning capacity, professional damage, and great mental and emotional stress, anxiety, humiliation, and embarrassment," the lawsuit stated.
In a separate lawsuit, Shaffer is suing the city of Defiance and two police officers for a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1983, which allows citizens to sue any state or federal official who violates their constitutional rights. That case is not expected to get underway until the summer of 2025, because Schalk is currently on military duty.
"The real case is the city of Defiance. It started with them and they're the real culprit," Shaffer said. "There are things that they need to answer for, like why they never prosecuted the person who made the phone call."
The Paulding Exempted Village Schools Board must execute the settlement agreement at its November meeting. In exchange, Shaffer must drop the lawsuit within five days.