PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The School District of Palm Beach County hired a man as a substitute teacher even though he resigned from another school for inappropriate behavior with students, according to a new federal lawsuit.
Students would later complain about the teacher, Corey Pierce, being seen kissing students from Woodlands Middle School. Pierce is now facing two counts of lewd or lascivious battery by authority figure of a school after his arrest in March.
The documents WPTV’s Ethan Stein reviewed over the last month related to the case create new questions about why Pierce was allowed to leave his original job at Tradewinds Middle School, then get a job at another school within the school district as a substitute teacher.
According to a Title IX investigation report, Pierce was “let go/fired” from teaching at Tradewinds Middle School. However, the detail contradicts his personnel file showing he resigned from his job as an employee within the school office in January 2024.
Payroll records WPTV reviewed show before his resignation, Pierce suddenly started having days where he was marked as “without pay,” starting in October 2023. However, emails WPTV received show no district internal investigation was open until Pierce’s arrest.
This new lawsuit claims multiple employees observed Pierce’s excessive attention to female students at Tradewinds Middle School and it reached the level where Pierce had to resign from his position at the school. However, the school didn’t investigate the employee nor did employees report those behaviors to school administrators, which in turn allowed the employee to get another position within the same district.
Education
2 school district staffers accused of inappropriate relations with students
“School Board knew or should have known that Pierce was not fit for service as a school employee and that he never should have been permitted to be around children,” the lawsuit reads. “Pierce has concerning behavior patterns were observable to multiple employees yet school board failed to properly investigate, failed to take corrective action and ultimately made the catastrophic decision to rehire him after his resignation, directly enabling the continuation of his abuse of (VICTIM) and multiple other students.”
Pierce would get a new position at Woodlands Middle School as a substitute teacher in February 2024. The teacher, according to a Title IX investigation report, was then accused of trying to lean over and kiss a student in March, then trying to touch the student’s butt along with messaging students on social media and other inappropriate touching in March 2024.
The lawsuit also claims district investigators didn’t follow protocol when interviewing their client, who is a minor. Attorneys called it “traumatic and unprofessional” to conduct the interview without a counselor present and in a manner that was insensitive to a victim of sexual abuse.
This included the investigator laughing about the teacher having “a type” when discussing other victims, which is supported in the body camera footage reviewed by WPTV.
The School District of Palm Beach County said it can’t comment on pending litigation in an email.
Pierce’s trial, which was supposed to begin on Monday, was rescheduled after a scheduling conflict. His public defender told WPTV they are unable to provide a comment to the lawsuit at this time because the criminal case is ongoing.
