Man claims false arrest in 1965 kept him from substitute teaching jobs at Deer Lakes, Northgate

A Baldwin man is suing Deer Lakes and Northgate school districts, alleging that both refused to hire him as a substitute teacher because of what he claimed was a bogus arrest over loud music in 1965.

Anthony Gaglierd, who said in his lawsuit that he had a teaching career spanning more than four decades, applied to be a substitute in both districts in January through Education Staff Solutions, a placement company they each used.

In two separate, but similar lawsuits filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court this week, Gaglierd said he was notified by Education Staff Solutions on March 12 that his applications had been denied because of the “results of his arrest and conviction record.”

According to the complaint, the only incident the company could have been referring to was an arrest in 1965 that did not result in any charges being filed.

On Feb. 12, 1965, the lawsuit said, Gaglierd returned to his home, and a neighbor was offended by his car radio playing too loudly.

The complaint said the neighbor went to Gaglierd’s home to confront him and then accosted his mother.

“Mr. Gaglierd heard the commotion, found the neighbor harassing his mother, told him that if there was an issue, the neighbor should address it with him, and demanded that the neighbor leave their property, as he was trespassing,” the lawsuit said.

However, the complaint continued, the neighbor was a police officer — which Gaglierd didn’t know — and he arrested Gaglierd for assaulting an officer “despite the fact that Mr. Gaglierd had not assaulted him, and the neighbor was a trespasser.”

Gaglierd also had a pocket knife in his pocket, the lawsuit said, so the neighbor also tried to claim attempted homicide and concealing a deadly weapon.

“Due to the obvious bogusness of these allegations, no charges were pursued against Mr. Gaglierd,” the lawsuit said. “Mr. Gaglierd was not convicted, did not plead guilty, and there was and never will be any shred of evidence that Mr. Gaglierd did any of the things that he was accused of by this neighbor who abused his authority as a police officer.”

The lawsuit alleges that both Deer Lakes and Northgate should have seen the “obvious discrepancy” since after the 1965 incident, Gaglierd had decades of teaching experience. Yet, it continued, neither district did any investigation and instead summarily dismissed his application.

The lawsuits include a single claim for violating the Criminal History Record Information Act and allege that Gaglierd’s prior arrest had no relation to his ability to perform his job duties, and that he was an excellent teacher with years of experience.

Calls to both school districts were not returned.