A group of Oktibbeha County School District educators claim they were let go by the school district in 2015 because of their age and were replaced with less-experienced African-American counterparts, court documents state.
Five former employees — teachers Kristy M. Gibson, Pamela D. Perry and Brenda Staszefski; counselor Janet L. Hodges-Cagle; and teacher’s assistant Mary Louise Carr — filed lawsuits in federal court July 11 against Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District after receiving right-to-sue notices from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission this spring.
They each seek actual and liquidated damages to be determined by a jury, reinstatement and attorney’s fees and costs, as their lawsuits allege they suffered lost income, mental anxiety and stress because of the school district’s actions.
Citing the nature of ongoing litigation, SOCSD officials declined to comment on the lawsuits.
Each lawsuit focuses on either former OCSD Conservator Margie Pulley or former West Elementary Principal Andrea Pastchal-Temple Smith, through whom the complaints say the school district made official policy decisions regarding the personnel matters in May 2015.
While SOCSD is listed as the defendant in each of the lawsuits, the district did not exist at the time of the personnel decisions. Those moves were administered by Pulley, as she was in control of the district’s personnel matters after a state takeover disbanded the OCSD Board of Trustees.
OCSD and the former Starkville School District consolidated in July 2015, relieving Pulley of her temporary job.
Last week, SOCSD trustees transitioned Smith from West Elementary to her new role as the district’s director of assessment and intervention.
All five former educators, who are represented by Iuka-based attorney John R. White, claim their jobs were non-renewed in May 2015 despite not receiving any warnings, notices or reprimands letting them know their employment statuses were in jeopardy.
Each plaintiff claims to have documentation showing they were “treated unfairly and differently” because of their age and race, but those claims are not fully elaborated upon in the fillings.
In their charges of discrimination to the EEOC, Gibson, Hodges-Cagle, Perry and Staszefski state they were replaced by “younger, less-experienced African-American” employees.
Carr’s EEOC filling does not mention the race of her replacement — her lawsuit states the new employee “was much younger than (Carr) and had less education” — but still asked investigators to look into whether she was a victim of discrimination based upon race and age.
Her lawsuit lists Carr as an African-American, but her EEOC filing states she is Caucasian.
Carr was a 14-year employee with the county school district and worked as a teacher’s assistant at the time of her non-renewal. She was 52 years old when she was notified of the district’s personnel decision.
In her EEOC complaint, Gibson — a 50-year-old, first-grade teacher at the time of her discharge — wrote “Dr. Temple always had a problem with me” and alleged the former principal “had already interviewed another teacher and had my job filled” before she received her non-renewal notice.
Gibson’s lawsuit also states she “helped train and mentor the young lady who replaced her.”
Hodges-Cagle, her lawsuit and EEOC filing state, was 42 when she was non-renewed. She worked as an OCSD high school counselor for 12 years, her EEOC filing says, but was told by Pulley she would be placed at West Elementary so she could be employed for the 2015-16 academic year.
Perry was 45 at the time of her non-renewal and had worked at OCSD for 11 years. Her EEOC filing states she was “promised a job for the continuing years because we were a high performing school,” a claim mirroring those made in the other educators’ lawsuits.
Staszefski’s EEOC filing states the then-58-year-old was the oldest West Elementary teacher at the time of her non-renewal. Smith, the document continues, signed a grant application for a potential 2015-16 award — an inferred indication of Staszefski’s continued employment — before the district made its personnel changes.
Trial dates for the lawsuits have not yet been set.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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