Judge tosses former teacher’s suit against Norfolk Academy
A discrimination complaint filed by a former Norfolk Academy teacher against the prestigious private school was dismissed Monday by a federal court judge before the case could be sent to a jury for consideration.
Judge Arenda Wright Allen granted Norfolk Academy’s motion for judgment on the fifth day of a retrial in U.S. District Court in Norfolk. The school was midway through presenting its case when the judge announced her decision.
In her 13-page ruling Allen wrote that former third-grade teacher Joan Allison had failed to prove the elements needed to win. To do that, the longtime educator had to demonstrate that her job performance was satisfactory and that the reassignment to a new position given to her by the school’s headmaster was discriminatory and amounted to an adverse employment action.
Allison, who is Black, had taught third-grade boys at Norfolk Academy for 22 years. She sued the school and Headmaster Dennis Manning in 2020 after being told she could no longer serve as a homeroom teacher and would need to take on a new role.
The school has maintained the reason for the reassignment was due to a large number of troubling complaints parents of Allison’s students had lodged against her. Allison claimed it was due to her continually challenging the school to do more in its dealings with issues involving race.
In a statement emailed to The Virginian-Pilot, Allison said she was stunned by Allen’s ruling. She also disputed the judge’s assertion that she had failed to prove her case.
“What I have proven is that I had been treated in a disparate manner by being denied the ability to use practices other teachers used. This undermined my reputation in the school community,” she wrote.
“My former administrators admitted to never observing me, investigating, or making recommendations to address what they said were parental issues, the majority of which were never discussed with me. After 20 years of receiving annual contracts, in my final 2 years, administrators presumed that I was guilty of whatever was alleged.
“While I wasn’t terminated, I was offered 2 other positions that required interfacing with the same families I had been accused of harming. It defies reason.”
Charles Meyer, the lead defense lawyer representing the academy and Manning, commended the judge’s ruling in a statement to The Pilot. He also disputed Allison’s claims that school officials didn’t discuss the parent complaints with her, or seek resolutions to the problems, citing evidence presented at trial.
“As Ms. Allison’s own stipulations confirm, Norfolk Academy is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice,” Meyer wrote. “Mr. Manning and the school are proud of this continued commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and are pleased to have been completely vindicated in this case.”
In the spring of 2019 Manning told Allison that due to the high volume and troubling nature of parent complaints made against her in recent years, she would need to move to a job outside the classroom. He created the position of social justice curriculum coordinator specifically for her after discussing other job possibilities with her. Allison initially accepted the offer, which came with a slight pay raise, then rejected it weeks later and resigned. She filed her lawsuit a year later.
The case first went to trial in November but ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Allison’s attorney withdrew from the case a short time later and she represented herself at her retrial, which began last week.
After Allison rested her case Thursday, the defense asked Allen to grant its motion for judgment. The judge said she would take the matter under advisement. She issued her ruling after a couple of days of hearing evidence from defense witnesses and then released the jury from its duty.
Allen wrote that while Allison may have thought she was doing a good job, what mattered under the law was what school officials thought of her performance.
“The evidence presented at trial established that Plaintiff ’s performance as a third-grade homeroom teacher at Norfolk Academy was not satisfactory, since Plaintiff generated more complaints regarding her treatment of children than any other teacher in the school,” the judge wrote. “While Plaintiff disagreed with the administration and the parents’ conclusions about her treatment of students and did not think that her teaching methods were injurious to her students, the standard in determining whether an employee’s performance is satisfactory is based on the employer’s perception, not that of Plaintiff or any third party.”
As for Allison’s claim the reassignment was an adverse employment action, Allen wrote the evidence suggested otherwise.
The job came with the same benefits as her previous position and a 2% raise, the judge noted. Allison herself had described it as her “dream job” before rejecting it, the judge said.
As to Allison’s allegation that discrimination played a role in the case, Allen wrote Allison hadn’t presented any evidence to indicate that.
“To the contrary, the evidence at trial demonstrated Norfolk Academy and Mr. Manning’s commitment to diversity, equity, and social justice. As reflected in one of the stipulations in this trial, Norfolk Academy has become increasingly diverse under Mr. Manning’s leadership — growing from approximately five percent students of color in 2001 (when Mr. Manning assumed leadership) to approximately twenty five percent of students at present.”