Credit:Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Passed over for a teaching position by the Neshaminy School Board, educator Jennifer Russell has filed a federal lawsuit.
Russell is suing the Neshaminy School District in Philadelphia federal court for alleged gender discrimination. The lawsuit was filed last week by Penndel-based employment law firm Kolman Ely.
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Russell is asking for several matters of relief in her lawsuit, including compensation for pay and benefits that would have been earned if she was hired.
According to the lawsuit, Russell, who has a master’s degree, was a substitute special education teacher at Albert Schweitzer Elementary School during the 2016-2017 school year. She had positive reviews from her supervisors during her long term substitute teaching position.
In June 2017, Russell applied for a permanent teaching slot in the district and later received an email from human resources. It said she would be recommended at an upcoming school board meeting for hire. In mid-June she received a class list from the principal at Albert Schweitzer, giving her further reason to believe she would be getting the job, according to the lawsuit.
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In legal documents, Russell claims Superintendent Joseph Jones called her a day after the email from the principal to announce she did not get her hiring approved school board. She said Jones told her she was overqualified for the position and her level of education “disqualified her.”
Russell’s lawsuit claims that three women with master’s degrees out of 19 recommended hires were singled out when board member Stephen Pirritano asked to review personnel hiring approved earlier at the meeting. In turn, two of the candidates had their hiring approval overturned while male candidates with master’s degrees were brought on board.
At the school board’s June 20, 2017 meeting, Pirritano said the reversal of the hiring was not related to the jobseeker’s master’s degrees but had to “do with the ability of a school district to bargain for a salary with an employee that has done service with the district,” according to meeting minutes.
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Neshaminy spokesperson Chris Stanley told LevittownNow.com the district and school board has no comment on the lawsuit.
