Ex- school official claims discrimination in not being rehired
Columbus City Schools’ longtime purchasing manager, who retired in the spring of 2017 hoping to get rehired to his job while collecting his full pension, is suing the district in federal court, claiming racial discrimination for not getting his job back.
The employment plans of Dennis Carney, who is white, came under assault by a group of black contractors and vendors who launched a lobbying campaign with the school board accusing Carney of steering district contracts away from them. In the end, the board declined to rehire Carney, despite the recommendation of then-Superintendent Dan Good to do so.
The lawsuit also names as defendants a group of black organizations, businesses and individuals who attacked Carney, including the Columbus branch of the NAACP and its president, Nana Watson. Watson couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.
“The defendants entered into a malicious and intentional course of conduct to conspire, aid and abet in concert to discriminate against” Carney because he is white, the lawsuit says. Carney has suffered “great emotional pain, embarrassment, economic damages and loss of reputation” for being branded by the group as a racist, which he is not, the lawsuit says.
The district doesn’t comment on lawsuits, said spokesman Scott Varner.
The Dispatch reported last year that within weeks of Carney’s decision to launch his retire-rehire process, the NAACP hosted two meetings for minority vendors to air complaints about the district’s purchasing process. The meetings were attended by W. Shawna Gibbs and Michael Cole, the sevenmember school board’s only black members.
The board accepted Carney’s retirement on March 21, effective May 31 of last year. But in April, as the date of the hearing to rehire him approached, Carney said he got a call from his boss, district Chief Operating Officer Maurice Oldham, saying he wouldn’t be rehired.
Carney is demanding back pay from the time of his retirement, unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and attorney fees. His attorney, James Mowery Jr., couldn’t be reached for comment.