Greenburgh schools chief sued for alleged racism, sexism

A principal, the human resources director, two guidance counselors and four teachers are suing the superintendent of Greenburgh schools over creating what they described as a hostile workplace rife with harassment and filled with racial, religious and sexual slurs.

They are seeking unspecified damages against schools Superintendent Ronald O. Ross and members of the Board of Education as individuals, who they say refused to respond to complaints and encouraged bullying and disrespect. They are also suing the school district because, the suit states, there is "no effective procedure for investigating and resolving complaints" against the superintendent.

According to the suit, which refers to incidents taking place over the past three years, Ross referred to black employees as "oreos," "an Aunt Jemima," "an Uncle Tom," a "California raisin" and "sell-outs;" routinely called female employees a term legitimately used for female dogs; made light of an employee's battle with cancer; publicly announced the weight loss of one female employee while adding that another one had apparently found the weight; referred to several employees by their religion; and referred to white employees as "white devils," "trailer trash" and "crackers."

He also referenced one employee's Muslim religion, saying that she was a danger to the students because of "her people."

Woodlands High School Principal Will Washington, Human Resources Director Dawn Johnson-Adams, guidance counselors Joseph A. Foy II and Holly Gant Jones and teachers Shehnaz Hirji, Theresa Butler, Wendy Scheer and Ellen Gruffi filed suit Thursday in U.S. District Court in White Plains.

A district spokeswoman said the people accused in the suit have not been served with papers so "the district is in no position to comment."

The suit also says that numerous complaints to the school board resulted in an August investigation that ended with a report given to the board and Ross that ended with the board "tak(ing) no remedial action against Ross. In doing so, the board knowingly and deliberately condoned and ratified Ross' years of sexist and racist conduct."

The harassment has prohibited the plaintiffs from doing their jobs, the suit said, creating a "degrading and intimidating work environment which has been materially altered for the worse, laced with intimidation and verbal assaults ... not conducive to educating children" and that the district "has been impaired and compromised" because of Ross and the school board.

Attorney Jonathan Lovett, who is representing Washington and the rest, said the suit was brought after his clients felt "the district didn't do anything. There's been a lot of people affected by this. It's a pretty difficult work environment."

He also said he felt "the lawsuit speaks for itself loud and clear. I hope simply to get them appropriate relief from a jury."