A former Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher is suing the district, claiming he was not given due process following an exchange with a student last year and that response to the incident has hindered his ability to work.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Dino DeIuliis, includes claims of constitutional violations and breach of contract against the district. It was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Pennsylvania.
“We hope to get this suit resolved so he can continue to work as a teacher,” said John Newborg, DeIuliis’ attorney. “He’s been treated unfairly.”
Reached Friday, PPS solicitor Ira Weiss said the district is aware of the lawsuit.
“The district does not comment on pending litigation,” Weiss said. “When the district is served with the lawsuit, we will respond through the court process.”
In March 2025, DeIuliis, an art teacher, was working with two second-grade students in his classroom at Woolslair Elementary School in Bloomfield. While working with the students, a boy came in between DeIuliis and the students and began disrupting instruction, the lawsuit said.
The boy ignored DeIuliis’ orders for him to stop and return to his assigned seat. The boy instead sat down in a chair where DeIuliis and the students were working and continued being disruptive, the complaint said.
DeIuliis then went to the back of the chair and tipped it forward for the boy to stand and leave, the complaint said. DeIuliis then pushed the chair aside.
The boy then left the classroom and told the principal that DeIuliis choked him, the complaint said.
The incident was video recorded. The video shows DeIuliis growing frustrated and angry at the boy, but he never touched him or caused an injury, the lawsuit said.
A “due process” meeting with DeIuliis, a teachers’ union representative, and PPS administrators was held April 3, and the videotape was reviewed, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said Deluiis’ actions did not meet the legal definition of abuse and that the “so-called ‘due-process’ hearing” was not to determine if DeIuliis committed child abuse. DeIuliis did not receive any notice that the meeting was an investigation on child abuse. Therefore, he was not given the opportunity to defend himself against the claim that his resignation was based upon child abuse, the lawsuit said.
Instead, the meeting focused solely on whether the chair tipping was a reason for dismissal, the lawsuit said.
On April 11, the district notified DeIuliis that the administration recommended starting dismissal proceedings against him.
The lawsuit claims that PPS told DeIuliis if he resigned, the district would not convey any negative information about DeIuliis to any prospective employer. Therefore, DeIuliis gave up his right to grieve and arbitrate his dismissal and resigned.
That summer, DeIuliis applied and was offered a job as an art teacher with the Propel Schools, starting in August at an annual salary of $85,000, the lawsuit said.
But the Propel Schools later withdrew their offer after PPS completed an Act 168 form, a state sexual misconduct and abuse disclosure form, about DeIullis. The lawsuit said information PPS provided on the form is false.
“He never had any due process on this issue, and in addition, they promised a neutral reference,” Newborg said. “We think it’s unfair the way they filled the form out.”
At the end of August, DeIuliis got a job working at the Tom Johnson Boys’ Academy in West Mifflin, at a salary of $35,000 a year.
A similar incident occurred years prior, where DeIuliis tipped a disruptive fourth-grade student’s chair to get the student to stand up and return to his assigned area, the lawsuit said. That student also lied about what happened, a ChildLine report was made and there was no finding of child abuse.
DeIuliis seeks judgement for past and future income loss, attorney fees, emotional distress, embarrassment and humiliation, depression and any other relief found appropriate, the lawsuit said.