A hearing officer assigned by the New York State Education Department to determine whether disciplinary charges should be brought against the Amagansett School principal, who was placed on paid leave in January of last year after being accused of stealing a $25 gift card, has found her not guilty and ordered the district to reinstate her as principal and expunge the charges from her personnel record.
In a decision on Thursday, the officer, Timothy S. Taylor, said that in the seven hearings on the matter held between July 10 and Nov. 20, the district had failed to meet its burden of proof establishing Principal Maria Dorr's guilt, that one of its key witnesses "was not credible," and that the former interim superintendent, Richard Loeschner, had "failed to conduct a full and fair investigation."
"As you know, this has been a challenging time," Ms. Dorr said in a text on Thursday afternoon, adding that she needed "time to process this decision with my family tonight." Her attorney was not immediately available for comment.
In charges brought against Ms. Dorr in February 2024, the district alleged that on Dec. 15, 2023, she entered the mail room and left with a red envelope containing an Amazon gift card meant for another employee, later covering up the evidence. She denied the charges, but was placed on paid administrative leave as the district sought to terminate her employment. The hearings were held at Ms. Dorr's request to determine whether the district had just cause to take disciplinary action against her.
While the hearing officer cleared her of all charges on Thursday, he did not agree with her that the charges were frivolous and denied her request to reimburse her for attorney fees or expenses "incurred for investigation services and process servers."
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.
With Reporting by Christine Sampson