This one I really don't get.
Betsy Combier
The city also paid an undisclosed amount when, in 2012, it settled another harassment case against Kwait. That one was brought by an assistant principal who accused him of discrimination when she became pregnant.
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| Howard Kwait |
In the latest suit, Catenacci claimed that Kwait pressed her to go home with him after an alcohol-soaked retirement party for a colleague and attempted to straddle her at another school related event.
“Mr. Kwait made numerous sexual advances towards Ms. Catenacci,” the suit, brought by attorney Steven Morelli, states.
Knowing she was a lesbian, Kwait profanely interrogated her about her sexual interest in other female staffers at the school, the suit stated. When she rebuffed his advances, Kwait revoked her teaching responsibilities and undermined her, the suit said.
Maya, meanwhile, accused Kwait of criticizing her for getting pregnant and taking time off .
Despite his legal woes, Kwait remains principal at the school, where the motto is “the relentless pursuit of success,” according to its Web site.
“We are reviewing Mr. Kwait’s status,” said Department of Education spokeswoman Devora Kaye.
A randy Queens high-school principal has cost the city more than a half a million dollars to settle sexual-harassment suits brought by staffers and students — and he’s still on the job.
John Bowne HS Principal Howard Kwait presented the latest hefty tab to taxpayers on Thursday, when the city agreed to give a combined $275,000 to two former assistant principals who accused him of everything from lewd advances to fudging grades.
Maria Catenacci and Sally Maya were so disgusted by Kwait’s boorish antics that they resigned their positions, court papers state. Maya agreed to settle her case for $150,000 and Catenacci for $125,000.
“It was best for the city to settle,” a spokesman told the Post.
It’s not the first time Kwait’s antics cost the city cash. A 2012 suit against him by a student’s family, who said the girl was falsely accused of sending staffers threatening e-mails, was settled by the city for $225,000.
“We settled after evaluating the facts and the risks of proceeding with the litigation,” said a city Law Department spokesman.
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From this blog in 2014:
FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2014
COIB Fines Principal Howard Kwait of John Bowne High School...Again
Principal of John Bowne High School in Queens fined for jaunts paid for by aide
The aide to Howard Kwait, principal of John Bowne High School, spent more than $11,000 on getaways for the pair to Greece then to Greece, Italy, Turkey and Croatia.
Comments (2)BY BEN CHAPMAN AND CORINNE LESTCH / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2014, 12:48 AM
LINK
John Bowne High School at 63-25 Main St. in Queens. The principal of the school has been fined for going on trips with his aide on his or her dime.
A troublemaking Queens principal was slapped with a $4,500 fine for taking jaunts overseas with his school aide on the assistant’s dime, the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board said Thursday.
The aide to Howard Kwait, 36, principal of John Bowne High School in Flushing, spent more than $11,000 for the getaways.
The board didn’t reveal the aide’s name or gender.
The pair first went to Greece in 2011, and then to Italy, Greece, Turkey and Croatia in 2012.
Kwait, the school’s principal since 2006, received a disciplinary letter in his file. He referred all questions for comment to the Education Department.
It’s not the first time Kwait, who makes $145,000 a year, has been disciplined. He received a letter in his file for stealing food from the cafeteria and cursing at employees, among other transgressions.
He was also named in a 2012 lawsuit filed by the daughter of an Indian diplomat who was wrongly accused of cyberbullying her teacher at John Bowne.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Principal From Hell Strikes Again: Howard Kwait, John Bowne High School
I know a teacher undergoing his "trial" (3020-a) right now, whom I believe was falsely accused by the principal, Howard Kwait. When this teacher was removed from his school and criminalized like so many other innocent victims of the Bloomberg-Klein-Black-Walcott regime, where was the outrage?
Principal Kwait made a huge error in allowing an arrest of the daughter of a diplomat from India, but he also made the false claims process of the Gotcha Squad an international issue.Krittika Biswas was accused of sending obscene emails to her teacher. Of course there was no real "investigator" on hand to ask what the facts in the case really were before arresting her, happens every day to an unsuspecting teacher. Now, the improper and scandalous violation of rights is international. Perhaps something will change? Richard Condon and his riot police may be investigated? It's certainly time for that to occur.
Why cant the press expose principals who terrorize New York City public school teachers?
Round-Up: The Strange Case of Krittika Biswas
Wall Street JournalLINK
India’s media erupted with indignation today over the case of Krittika Biswas, the daughter of an Indian diplomat serving at the Indian Consulate General in Manhattan, who claims she was wrongfully arrested after being falsely accused of sending obscene emails to her school teacher, according to reports.
The 18-year-old was reportedly kept in custody for more than 24 hours on Feb. 8 and also was sent for more than a month to a special suspension program by her school despite being cleared by investigators. She filed a notice of claim May 6 saying that she is suing New York City, among others, for $1.5 million.
Ms. Biswas had reportedly tried to claim diplomatic immunity. But a U.S. State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, was quoted by NDTV as saying that the immunity does not extend to family members of diplomats.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in New Delhi said in an emailed statement: “We are aware of press reporting regarding filing of a lawsuit by the daughter of an Indian consular officer. However we have no comment on this ongoing litigation.”
The Deccan Herald reported that Krittika felt ill-treated in custody, saying: “Krittika alleged that she was not allowed to use the bathroom for a long-time”. It added some other unsavory details, “that she couldn’t drink water from a water fountain because it had another person’s vomit, and although it was really cold, she could not use the blanket because it was really dirty.”
In addition to the lawsuit, the girl’s lawyer also suggested that the City’s mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, give her a key to the freedom of the city. But Mr. Bloomberg seemed unlikely to grant the request, according to The New York Post (which, like The Wall Street Journal, is owned by News Corp.)
Ms. Biswas is gaining some support for her plight on Facebook. A group called “’Krittika Biswas’-Price of Every Tear Will Be Paid” was set up this morning. The group as of Thursday afternoon had 86 “likes.” But it remains to be seen what broader ramifications her case may have. “We don’t know if such strange kind of events will really have an impact on India-U.S. relations,” said one Indian official.
Indian diplomat's daughter claims she was falsely arrested for obscene emails
By YOAV GONEN, NY POST, May 24, 2011LINK
An Indian diplomat’s daughter who claims she was falsely arrested and suspended for sending obscene emails to teachers at her Queens high school is suing the city for a whopping $1.5 million – and even a key to the city, her lawyer said today.
In a notice of claim filed on May 6, John Bowne HS senior Krittika Biswas, daughter of the vice counsel at the Consulate General of India in Manhattan, Debashish Biswas, said her claims of diplomatic immunity were ignored when she was cuffed and locked up for more than 24 hours on Feb. 8 after a shoddy probe by administrators into the emails.
Even after the Queens DA dropped the charges and expunged her arrest from the record, school officials booted the 18-year-old girl to an offsite suspension center for more than a month, according to the claim.
It was only after principal Howard Kwait found the real perpetrator that Biswas was allowed back into school.
“The basis for this targeted inquiry was as criminally malicious as it was reckless,” Biswas’s lawyer Ravi Batra said during a news conference.
In addition to unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, Batra curiously suggested that Mayor Bloomberg could perhaps give “a key to the City to Krittika Biswas as a token of heartfelt sorrow for the unbecoming pain inflicted upon her.”
Batra also claims that officers failed to read Biswas Miranda rights and "continued to inquire about her computer usage."
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| Howard Kwait |
I know a teacher undergoing his "trial" (3020-a) right now, whom I believe was falsely accused by the principal, Howard Kwait. When this teacher was removed from his school and criminalized like so many other innocent victims of the Bloomberg-Klein-Black-Walcott regime, where was the outrage?
Principal Kwait made a huge error in allowing an arrest of the daughter of a diplomat from India, but he also made the false claims process of the Gotcha Squad an international issue.Krittika Biswas was accused of sending obscene emails to her teacher. Of course there was no real "investigator" on hand to ask what the facts in the case really were before arresting her, happens every day to an unsuspecting teacher. Now, the improper and scandalous violation of rights is international. Perhaps something will change? Richard Condon and his riot police may be investigated? It's certainly time for that to occur.
Why cant the press expose principals who terrorize New York City public school teachers?
Round-Up: The Strange Case of Krittika Biswas
Wall Street JournalLINK
India’s media erupted with indignation today over the case of Krittika Biswas, the daughter of an Indian diplomat serving at the Indian Consulate General in Manhattan, who claims she was wrongfully arrested after being falsely accused of sending obscene emails to her school teacher, according to reports.
The 18-year-old was reportedly kept in custody for more than 24 hours on Feb. 8 and also was sent for more than a month to a special suspension program by her school despite being cleared by investigators. She filed a notice of claim May 6 saying that she is suing New York City, among others, for $1.5 million.
Ms. Biswas had reportedly tried to claim diplomatic immunity. But a U.S. State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, was quoted by NDTV as saying that the immunity does not extend to family members of diplomats.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in New Delhi said in an emailed statement: “We are aware of press reporting regarding filing of a lawsuit by the daughter of an Indian consular officer. However we have no comment on this ongoing litigation.”
The Deccan Herald reported that Krittika felt ill-treated in custody, saying: “Krittika alleged that she was not allowed to use the bathroom for a long-time”. It added some other unsavory details, “that she couldn’t drink water from a water fountain because it had another person’s vomit, and although it was really cold, she could not use the blanket because it was really dirty.”
In addition to the lawsuit, the girl’s lawyer also suggested that the City’s mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, give her a key to the freedom of the city. But Mr. Bloomberg seemed unlikely to grant the request, according to The New York Post (which, like The Wall Street Journal, is owned by News Corp.)
Ms. Biswas is gaining some support for her plight on Facebook. A group called “’Krittika Biswas’-Price of Every Tear Will Be Paid” was set up this morning. The group as of Thursday afternoon had 86 “likes.” But it remains to be seen what broader ramifications her case may have. “We don’t know if such strange kind of events will really have an impact on India-U.S. relations,” said one Indian official.
Indian diplomat's daughter claims she was falsely arrested for obscene emails
By YOAV GONEN, NY POST, May 24, 2011LINK
An Indian diplomat’s daughter who claims she was falsely arrested and suspended for sending obscene emails to teachers at her Queens high school is suing the city for a whopping $1.5 million – and even a key to the city, her lawyer said today.
In a notice of claim filed on May 6, John Bowne HS senior Krittika Biswas, daughter of the vice counsel at the Consulate General of India in Manhattan, Debashish Biswas, said her claims of diplomatic immunity were ignored when she was cuffed and locked up for more than 24 hours on Feb. 8 after a shoddy probe by administrators into the emails.
Even after the Queens DA dropped the charges and expunged her arrest from the record, school officials booted the 18-year-old girl to an offsite suspension center for more than a month, according to the claim.
It was only after principal Howard Kwait found the real perpetrator that Biswas was allowed back into school.
“The basis for this targeted inquiry was as criminally malicious as it was reckless,” Biswas’s lawyer Ravi Batra said during a news conference.
In addition to unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, Batra curiously suggested that Mayor Bloomberg could perhaps give “a key to the City to Krittika Biswas as a token of heartfelt sorrow for the unbecoming pain inflicted upon her.”
Batra also claims that officers failed to read Biswas Miranda rights and "continued to inquire about her computer usage."
4 comments:
- All I can say, is that Mr. Howard Kwait, helped many under privileged students over the years as an educator obtain a high school education through remedial
training and coursework, that enabled many students to move on and obtain acollege education .
Let's focus on the positive here:
Mr. Howard Kwait took John Bowne High School from a C to B within the Bd of Education grading system while many public high schools in the 5 boroughs are being converted to charter schools.
Mr. Howard Kwait is an excellent manager and supervisor because he holds people accountable in the jobs that they are hired into performing.
Mr. Howard Kwait has also promoted people from within based upon merit, only who are deserving of a promotion.
For anyone to personally attack an elected public official without basis and merit is really unprofessional and uncalled for.
Anonymous. - Let us also focus on the negatives here and decide whether he is a role model for the students.
Mr. Howard Kwait -
* Stole food from the cafeteria
* Abused and cursed employees.
* Fined $ 4,500 by the Conflicts of Interest Board.
For anyone to personally defend such a worthless human being is really unprofessional and uncalled for. - You can't judge someone who did those crime. Because we were never there to see the
truth . And media can be exaggerating and merely aliar in many ways. So let's not start judging just cause he did those. View more on the positive sides.
~Anonymous - You are surely misguided. If you're so sure about Mr. Kwait, why are you writing anonymously? This guy is the most unprofessional, uncouth, and disgusting individual in the school system. Only Namita Dwarka rivals him. The only reason the school went C to B is because he fudged grades and fired Assistant Principals who also did not change grades and do what he said. He's also great for putting on a show for people which is probably what you saw. Most high school teachers in NYC work towards helping students transition to college. He certainly is not the miracle worker.
He is only interested in bringing people down. He is no leader. A good leader builds people up. That us not his aim in life. He is a giant bully.
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