An African-American teacher who formerly taught at Mt. Laurel’s Larchmont Elementary School has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against Larchmont, its principal, several teachers at the school and the Mt. Laurel Schools BOE.
The former employee alleges her time at Larchmont was so mired by racially-motivated harassment, bullying and segregation that she had no choice in her decision to quit teaching at the school.
In turn, the district has described the lawsuit as a “baseless attack” on the school community and said the former employee’s allegations were already reviewed and dismissed by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after that agency had determined that no laws had been violated.
The case involves Mt. Laurel resident Tammy Jordan, who taught as a second-grade teacher, and later a first-grade teacher, at Larchmont Elementary between 2016 to 2018.
Throughout the 27-page lawsuit, Jordan names two to three white teachers at the school who Jordan alleges would make condescending, racially-motivated remarks regarding Jordan’s intelligence.
These remarks allegedly included statements such as, “I would show you my lesson plan, but you won’t understand them anyway,” and “did what I just say confuse you?” and “can you even understand me?”
In other instances, the lawsuit alleges these teachers would refuse to acknowledge Jordan’s presence or would move to another table if Jordan were to take a seat.
In one instance, the lawsuit also states a teacher allegedly asked Jordan the racially-charged question of “do your grandchildren have the same mother?”
The lawsuit also alleges that teachers at the school also accused Jordan of only receiving her teaching position at the school due to the color of her skin.
Jordan’s lawsuit also names school principal George Jackson, who is also African American, and alleges that Jackson “sanctioned” and “condoned” the discrimination and harassment against Jordan.
According to the lawsuit, while Jackson allegedly acknowledged “issues of systematic racism” at Larchmont, the lawsuit alleges that Jackson did not take corrective action against the allegations or properly investigate the claims.
Instead, the lawsuit alleges that Jackson told Jordan that they had to “be like Jackie Robinson” or be like the women in the film “Hidden Figures” and merely deal with the alleged discrimination.
In her lawsuit, Jordan also alleges that she was the first African American classroom teacher hired at Larchmont since 1990, and the school purposefully avoided hiring African-American teachers at Larchmont due to the “discrimination and harassment” to which they would be subjected.
To that end, before hiring another African-American teacher in 2017, the lawsuit alleges that Jackson cried during a meeting, saying that hiring another black teacher would be “controversial.”
The lawsuit also alleges that Jordan also reported her complaints to her union, and the district’s assistant superintendent and district superintendent with no results.
As for the district’s response to the lawsuit, in addition to noting that Jordan’s allegations have already been investigated and dismissed by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the district also said the following in an official statement:
“Many families, staff members and community members will attest that its schools are welcoming places for children, parents, grandparents and community members, regardless of race, religious beliefs, gender, sexual identity or any other discriminatory factors,” the statement read.
According to the district’s statement, that legacy spans decades, included the dedication and naming in 1993 of the district’s administration building to Hattie Britt – a woman of color who taught in the in the district for more than 50 years.
“We intend to vigorously defend this baseless attack on our entire school community and demonstrate that one inaccurate and false accounting is not in any way representative of the Mount Laurel Township Schools,” the statement read.
According to Jordan’s lawsuit, she is seeking a trial by jury and a judgment to be determined at the time of trial, plus interest, punitive damages, liquidated damages, statutory damages, attorneys fees and more.
