N.J. school district fired worker who voiced concerns about children with autism, lawsuit says – NJ.com

A New Jersey woman fired from her job with the Newark Board of Education has filed a lawsuit against the district claiming she was sexually harassed and discriminated against due to her gender and her child with autism.

The former employee, who worked in the school district administration, claims in court papers her managers spread rumors about her sex life, taunted her about the way she walked due to a back injury and were insensitive when it came to her son with autism.

The district violated New Jersey’s anti-discrimination laws several times from the woman’s hiring date in 2018 until her termination two years ago, said the suit filed June 28 in Superior Court of Essex County.

NJ Advance Media is not naming the woman because she is alleging sexual harassment.

Nancy Deering, spokeswoman for the Newark Board of Education, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on allegations in the complaint.

The lawsuit alleges an assistant superintendent yelled at the woman in front of others when she expressed a concern for parents who need extra academic help for children with disabilities attending summer school.

The suit states the same assistant superintendent humiliated the woman twice for being late to staff meetings, even though she explained her son was having issues with school bus transportation.

Additionally, a female assistant business administrator asked the woman out to dinner and then proceeded to ask invasive questions about her sex life, the suit claims.

“Plaintiff was mortified when she saw that (the assistant business administrator) was texting the assistant superintendent what appeared to be details about their conversation,” the suit states.

The suit claims a female supervisor also “made sexually explicit comments about (the woman’s) physical appearance.” She also allegedly spread a lie about Hunter being intimate with a male colleague.

The lawsuit said the woman complained about the alleged harassment and hostile work environment to the district’s affirmative action supervisor, who allegedly dismissed her claims as “girls being girls.”

Following her meeting with the supervisor, the woman states in the suit she received “an intimidating letter” from the board of education’s attorney. The woman’s managers also received copies of the letter.

The lawsuit said the woman was terminated from her job in 2020 – four days after she voiced her concerns about parents who need special academic help for children with disabilities.

The lawsuit alleges several violations of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, wrongful discharge, hostile work environment, disability discrimination and retaliation/reprisal.

Since her firing, the woman been depressed, suffered from anxiety and experienced economic hardship. She’s also suffered from sleep disturbances and “other stress-related ailments,” the lawsuit claims.

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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.