An African American who was hired on a second-grade teacher by administrators at Larchmont Elementary School in 2016, filed a lawsuit against her employer and colleagues on May 29. In her filing, she chronicles how her colleagues were hostile and abusive toward her during her two years on the job. She also claims that she was retaliated against by school administrators.
In the teacher’s U.S. District Court of New Jersey filing, she details how she was regularly excluded from collaborating with her white co-workers and subjected to racist comments.
She then goes on to describe how the other teachers would get up from a table if she went to sit down at it. They also would remove her name from an equipment reservation list if she put her name on it.
Some of her fellow Caucasian teachers remarked that she must have gotten her job so her employer could comply with affirmative action laws on the books. She notes that other teachers constantly questioned her ability to understand them and to make sense of their lesson plans.
In her filing, the educator details how she told an African American principal about the harassment she’d received and that he acknowledged that he knew it existed. He reportedly recommended for her to put up with it.
After she had numerous conversations with the principal without him taking any action, the teacher finally lodged a report with the district assistant superintendent and teachers’ union in June 2017.
Soon after she did that, she was informed that she was being moved into a first-grade teaching position the next school year. She later found out that an abnormally high percentage of the students that she’d be teaching had behavioral concerns. She tendered her resignation soon after learning about this.
She maintains that she suffered a significant loss of benefits and income by being forced out of her job. She also notes that she was left with lasting psychological injuries as a result of the abuse that she endured as well. A spokesperson for the Mount Laurel School District has denied that any of this ill-treatment occurred.
All workers deserve to be treated respectfully and equitably. Workplace discrimination is illegal in New Jersey and throughout the United States. If you have been treated unfairly at work, then a workplace discrimination attorney in Burlington can help you stand up to racial bias in your New Jersey workplace.
