Carranza settled suit in harassment flap
S.F. educator had complained of his ‘flirtatious’ behavior
When he lead the San Francisco school system, outgoing Houston ISD Superintendent Richard Carranza was accused of derailing an educator’s career after she confronted him about “inappropriate flirtatious conduct” at a work conference, according to a now-settled lawsuit.
Victoria Chavez, a former assistant superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District, accused Carranza in 2015 of discrimination, harassment and retaliation. Lawyers representing the San Francisco Unified School District, working on behalf of Carranza, denied the allegations.
The lawsuit first was reported Thursday by the New York Daily News. Carranza accepted the job of New York City schools chancellor this week after 18 months leading Houston ISD.
The Houston Chronicle has reached out to Carranza for comment. Houston ISD Board of Trustees President Rhonda Skillern-Jones declined to comment when asked if the board was aware of the lawsuit before Thursday, adding, “It’s not relevant to us.”
Chavez filed the lawsuit in May 2015. Litigation was ongoing in July 2016, when Carranza was named the lone finalist for the HISD superintendent position. A notice of settlement was filed in the case on Aug. 1, 2016. HISD trustees officially hired Carranza on Aug. 18, 2016.
Chavez’s lawyer, Moira McQuaid, told the New York Daily News that she was “surprised to see that Carranza had gone to New York.” Olivia Lapeyrolerie, a spokeswoman for New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio, told the newspaper that the allegations were “completely false.”
In her lawsuit, Chavez said she spotted Carranza flirting with a female employee who worked for another school district at a February 2013 education conference in Los Angeles. Carranza was married at the time.
Chavez said she told Carranza about what she saw. The lawsuit does not offer any additional details about the nature of the conversation Chavez said she saw.
“Even though Chavez did not report to anyone in the upper echelons of SFUSD other than Carranza what she had seen, on information and belief, Carranza retaliated against and subjected Chavez to a hostile work environment following Chavez’s observations of his flirtatious conduct towards a female colleague,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also claims that Carranza placed Chavez under higher scrutiny for work-related travel and passed her over for a promotion after the conference.
Chavez said she interviewed for a new job, during which Carranza warned her to have a “Plan B” in case she did not get the position. Chavez said she got in a car accident days before the interview and had a concussion at the time, hurting her interview performance.
When she did not get the position, Chavez lost her job as assistant superintendent. Chavez took a job at the district as a general education teacher at a much lower salary after Carranza and others at the district did not help her find alternatives on the administrative level, the complaint states.
The lawsuit was filed against the San Francisco school district, and Carranza was not named as a defendant. Available court documents provide little documentation to substantiate or refute the allegations against Carranza.