Share and Follow
An Alabama elementary school cafeteria worker lost her job after she was found to have taken donations for the school lunch program and then lied about it to the principal in front of students and staff.
Avette Dunn was fired from her job at Shelby Elementary School after the school board determined that she had breached the trust essential for her role due to the incident that occurred in October.
Dunn, who had been a staff member in the district for almost a decade, received a contribution for the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) fund designated for school lunches, as reported by ABC 33/40.
However, the school claimed that it wasn’t part of Dunn’s job description to take the money as she wasn’t trained to handle the transactions, the outlet added.
School board members voted on the termination following a six-hour long hearing Monday night.
Before Monday, Dunn – whose children attend the school 39 miles south of Birmingham – had been under suspension since October.
Dunn’s legal team argued that her job description did not state she couldn’t collect the money and she only talked to the donor because they had reached out to her first.
She also claimed she knew funds were depleting and was aware that if it got below $200, the money couldn’t be used to pay for student lunches.
School Principal Stacy Aderholt confronted the worker in a crowded cafeteria in front of other employees to question Dunn about the donation.
Dunn said she lied to Aderholt to protect the donor’s identity and that she was scared to admit she had accepted the gesture.
The funds are monitored by several workers in the cafeteria, and part of Dunn’s job was to ensure student’s accounts had money in them.
The decision to fire Dunn was based on her lying to the principal, which she says she did so because she was scared to admit what she did.
“It’s imperative you can be trusted” in the role, Shelby Elementary Principal Stacy Aderholt said, according to the outlet.
Dunn’s lawyers argued that none of the money was misused and was correctly placed into the fund.
They also pointed to Dunn’s employee reviews that showed a good record of employement but the district noted she lied about money and it couldn’t be overlooked.
Dunn said her firing was too harsh of a punishment for what she did, while pleading for her job back.
“I made a mistake and I think I should be able to go back to my job. In my opinion I think I should’ve been suspended for two weeks,” she said at the hearing. “I don’t think I should get terminated just for not telling.”