Teacher Subject to Religious Discriminatin in School Setting

[flow]

I worked as a teacher in a unique public charter school for two years with no union and an At Will contract. The population at this school was predominately one religion. I belong to another religion. Historically, these two religions do not like each other. I was not interested in this, and simply wanted to do my job, and do it well. When I responded to anti-Semitic student work, the student, replied, "Why do you care? Are you Jewish?" From then on, the student population assumed that I was Jewish and made my life very difficult. They used the word "Jew" as an insult among one another, threw things at me in the classroom, made Nazi jokes during my class, and generally harassed me. I went to the principal and solicited help. The problems continued. I asked that an in school diversity training be given but this never happened. When I asked students to stop, or involved the parents, the parents became defensive. One day, a parent even drove by my open classroom door and yelled out angrily, "Jew!" There was even a swastika posted in the hallway of the school. It was a student assignment, and the student wrote about the Nazi party and their growth, but never mentioned the Holocaust. I was very uncomfortable and felt threatened when I saw the swastika. I asked the principal to talk to the teacher who posted this and to take it down. Months went by and nothing happened. It remained until I took it down myself.

I went through so much emotional and psychological suffering at this school. You may wonder why I continued, but I had to for economic reasons. During my second year, my personal belongings were vandalized in the staff room. The principal laughed when I told him. He did nothing. Certain staff would not even acknowledge me in the hallways, which belonged to this other religion. Five days before my contract was to end, I was given notice. There was no reason given. I had done a really exemplary job but I was given no letter of recommendation. I can prove the many fine things I did at this school. I have been too upset to return to teaching and am considering a career change. This was a public school in America! Now I am on unemployment. I am considering filing a case against the school with the Department of Fair Housing and Employment. What do you recommend? Who should I file with? What are my chances? How can I prove my case? Can anyone provide me with assistance? The fact that students did the majority of the harassing may be complicated, but I know that the administration had a responsibility to protect me, and they tolerated the abuse.

 

[CdwJava]

I am trying to think what two religions you are talking about and can only come up with Muslims and Jews.

In any event, you should not have been forced to endure this without support from the administration. If I were you, I would be talking to attorneys within the hour. In fact, some of these actions may have even resulted in criminal prosecutions had you reported them at or near the time.

If what you say is true, this charter school is a disgrace and should be shut down.

- Carl

 

[theretoo]

you may wish to contact an attorney but you also need to file with the ca dfeh. they can either handle the case for you or provide you with a right to sue letter if you prefer to not have the state handle the case.

http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/DFEH/default/

i currently have a case with the dfeh and i would be happy to answer any questions that i may be able to. i filed in apr of this year and their process, as i understand it, is they co file with eeoc, but since the state laws offer greater protection, the state will handle the case. take all documentation that you have to the appt with you, you will meet with one of their consultants and they will determine if they will take the case, but you must file with them before you can sue. you can either set the appt online or call and ask to set an appt, but they prefer that you use the online system.

initially, they will send a letter to the employer asking that they respond within 30 days, but that may slide to 90 days, as it did in my case. at that point, the state will subpoena the employer for depositions, employment records, employee handbooks and such. it can take up to a year before the state may issue an accusation, so it is a long road indeed to wait, however, you always have the right to sue at any point in the state's investigation or you may choose to have an atty work with the state on your behalf.