Virginia's attorney general has dropped a case against a former school superintendent who was accused of firing a teacher because she spoke out about a student inappropriately touching her. The former teacher, Erin Brooks, wanted to put the matter behind her and recently resolved a lawsuit against the former superintendent and the Loudoun County Public Schools, the attorney general's office said in a court filing Thursday.
“Words cannot express how grateful I am to the office of and the Attorney General himself, for the unwavering support and dedication to this case," Brooks said in a statement released by Attorney General Jason Miyares. The former superintendent, Scott Ziegler, maintained his stance that the case was politically motivated. Ziegler also said in a statement that “new evidence would have demonstrated that I acted in the best interest of Loudoun County’s most vulnerable students.”.
The attorney general's office was pursuing a conviction against Ziegler for the second time. He was convicted in 2023 on a misdemeanor count of violating Virginia's conflict of interest laws for retaliating against Brooks. A judge ruled last year that faulty jury instructions rendered the conviction illegitimate, even though there was “ample evidence" to support a jury’s conclusion of retaliation. A new trial was supposed to start next month.
