Appeals court throws out $750K verdict for Detroit teacher

The Michigan appeals court has thrown out a $750,000 verdict for a Detroit teacher who says she lost her job after criticizing the school district's handling of a sexual assault.

The court ordered a new trial Wednesday but narrowed the alleged violations of law.

Beverly Garvin claims her First Amendment rights were violated. She can continue to sue certain school officials but not the school board or the district.

Garvin was a Detroit teacher in 2004 when a fourth-grade girl says she was forced into a sex act by other students. Garvin says the principal and other school officials didn't do enough to help the girl and others after the incident.

The district says Garvin's dismissal was tied to many reasons, not because of her criticism about the playground incident.

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