A former employee of the DeKalb County School District is suing his prior employer over a number of instances of discriminatory behavior. He believes that his age, along with sexist and racist comments made to him showed the true motives of his superiors.
School district employee is subjected to consistent mistreatment
The 55 year old male victim filed his civil case in the local federal courts in Georgia for damages related to lost wages and legal fees.
There are several allegations included in the labor lawsuit, including a statement by the chairman of the DeKalb Board of Education, which essentially accused the victim of being too old to do his job effectively. This happened when the victim was the principal of Cedar Grove High School. This same chairman was also a significant force in getting the victim demoted from his position as principal of the high school just six months after he began.
Other incidents include the district questioning him about reporting to a female superintendent as one of his superiors. The plaintiffs filings claim that the superintendent’s intentions were to create a competitive work environment based on sex and race that had little to do with essential job duties or performance. A principal has to report directly to their superintendent based on the county’s structure. This same superintendent was formally disciplined and placed on administrative leave in 2018 for publically making sexist comments and social media posts. She had also made statements to the victim about not letting “white girls” outperform him. She then required him to submit a performance development program that the plaintiff believed would be used as a pretext to firing him from his position.
Shortly after this program plan was submitted according to the guidelines provided, the superintendent demoted him and said he could no longer work for her.
The DeKalb County School District refused to comment on any pending litigation. They would not say if the changes in position affected the victim’s pay or release any additional information related to his demotion.
Various kinds of discrimination by employers
Discrimination in workplaces comes in many forms. As the news story above shows, workers can be targeted based on their age, race, gender, and even a number of other factors such as religion or national origin.
If an employer consistently mistreats or takes adverse actions against the same employee without any legitimate justification, it may be a pretext to terminate the worker’s employment for a discriminatory reason.
Speak with a labor and employment attorney in Georgia
There are lawyers who focus their practice on issues such as discrimination, sexual harassment, unpaid wages, and various other labor law violations. To learn more, use the directory on USAttorneys.com to find a lawyer in your area.