Jose de Wit
SUN Staff Writer
Published Oct 16 2008
A former Escalante High School teacher laid off in 2007 after she complained of racial discrimination is now suing her former employer in state District Court.
In her complaint, Michelle Montgomery accuses Chama School District administrators of wrongfully terminating her and of ignoring complaints of “pervasive, persistent racism” against her from students and staff. She seeks $25,000 plus fees and punitive damages from the District.
Superintendent Manuel Valdez declined to comment.
The District hired Montgomery on a one-year contract for the 2006-07 school year to replace another teacher who had taken a year off to care for an ailing mother. The District did not rehire Montgomery at the end of the school year, saying the teacher whom Montgomery had been hired to replace would return at the start of the following school year.
Over the course of that school year, Montgomery encountered racist and threatening remarks from students and staff, but administrators made only token efforts to address her complaints, her complaint states.
Montgomery claims that from the start of the school year she was exposed to racist remarks from students, who called her “n****r” under their breath and speculated about what it would be like to have sex “with someone with kinky hair.” One day she found a student’s open notebook that read “F***k Mrs. Montgomery. Mrs. Montgomery is a n****r. Kill the n****r,” the lawsuit states.
Montgomery reported the death threat to then-Principal Fred Trujillo, who gave her an allegedly “flippant response,” told her he would investigate and assured her afterward he had reported the incident to law enforcement. According to the complaint, Trujillo never launched a “bona fide investigation” or informed law enforcement of the threat.
Trujillo no longer works for the District and could not be reached for comment.
Rio Arriba County Sheriff Joe Mascareñas said he does not recall hearing of the threat.
“I would remember if they had,” Mascareñas said. “But I don’t recall off hand, no.”
A call to State Police spokesman Peter Olson was not returned.
According to the complaint, Montgomery also encountered racism from District staff, who allegedly made comments such as “I’m not your la negrita,” which “suggest that, in fact, (Montgomery) was the hired help of the Hispanic staff.”
Even after taking her complaints to the superintendent, Montgomery states in the complaint, administrators responded only with a memo to staff stating that “discriminatory remarks are not tolerated” and promises that the District would conduct racial sensitivity training sometime the following school year.
“What we believe is there are some people in the school district who clearly have difficulties understanding what discrimination is and how not to do it,” Brian Thomas, Montgomery’s lawyer, said.
Montgomery also filed a complaint earlier this year with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which sent Montgomery a notice July 9 that it could not make a determination on her case, Thomas said. The Commission’s non-determination notice allows Montgomery to sue the District because it shows she was not able to resolve the issue through other means.
Thomas said he does not expect a trial date will be set for at least a year.
Montgomery first made similar claims of racial discrimination against the District in a SUN article published in May 2007. She is currently living in Bernalillo.
The suit is the second discrimination-related complaint against District in less than a year. In April, the District settled for $4,000 a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from girls basketball coach Peg Boucher. Boucher filed the complaint after the District hired another candidate for the coaching job last year after School Board members instructed administrators in a public meeting to hire locally for the position. The District hired Tara Terrazas, a Hispanic Chama native, for the coaching job last October over Boucher, who is an Anglo from outside of Chama. The District replaced Terrazas with Boucher as girls basketball coach this school year.
A former Escalante High School teacher laid off in 2007 after she complained of racial discrimination is now suing her former employer in state District Court.
In her complaint, Michelle Montgomery accuses Chama School District administrators of wrongfully terminating her and of ignoring complaints of “pervasive, persistent racism” against her from students and staff. She seeks $25,000 plus fees and punitive damages from the District.
Superintendent Manuel Valdez declined to comment.
The District hired Montgomery on a one-year contract for the 2006-07 school year to replace another teacher who had taken a year off to care for an ailing mother. The District did not rehire Montgomery at the end of the school year, saying the teacher whom Montgomery had been hired to replace would return at the start of the following school year.
Over the course of that school year, Montgomery encountered racist and threatening remarks from students and staff, but administrators made only token efforts to address her complaints, her complaint states.
Montgomery claims that from the start of the school year she was exposed to racist remarks from students, who called her “n****r” under their breath and speculated about what it would be like to have sex “with someone with kinky hair.” One day she found a student’s open notebook that read “F***k Mrs. Montgomery. Mrs. Montgomery is a n****r. Kill the n****r,” the lawsuit states.
Montgomery reported the death threat to then-Principal Fred Trujillo, who gave her an allegedly “flippant response,” told her he would investigate and assured her afterward he had reported the incident to law enforcement. According to the complaint, Trujillo never launched a “bona fide investigation” or informed law enforcement of the threat.
Trujillo no longer works for the District and could not be reached for comment.
Rio Arriba County Sheriff Joe Mascareñas said he does not recall hearing of the threat.
“I would remember if they had,” Mascareñas said. “But I don’t recall off hand, no.”
A call to State Police spokesman Peter Olson was not returned.
According to the complaint, Montgomery also encountered racism from District staff, who allegedly made comments such as “I’m not your la negrita,” which “suggest that, in fact, (Montgomery) was the hired help of the Hispanic staff.”
Even after taking her complaints to the superintendent, Montgomery states in the complaint, administrators responded only with a memo to staff stating that “discriminatory remarks are not tolerated” and promises that the District would conduct racial sensitivity training sometime the following school year.
“What we believe is there are some people in the school district who clearly have difficulties understanding what discrimination is and how not to do it,” Brian Thomas, Montgomery’s lawyer, said.
Montgomery also filed a complaint earlier this year with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which sent Montgomery a notice July 9 that it could not make a determination on her case, Thomas said. The Commission’s non-determination notice allows Montgomery to sue the District because it shows she was not able to resolve the issue through other means.
Thomas said he does not expect a trial date will be set for at least a year.
Montgomery first made similar claims of racial discrimination against the District in a SUN article published in May 2007. She is currently living in Bernalillo.
The suit is the second discrimination-related complaint against District in less than a year. In April, the District settled for $4,000 a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from girls basketball coach Peg Boucher. Boucher filed the complaint after the District hired another candidate for the coaching job last year after School Board members instructed administrators in a public meeting to hire locally for the position. The District hired Tara Terrazas, a Hispanic Chama native, for the coaching job last October over Boucher, who is an Anglo from outside of Chama. The District replaced Terrazas with Boucher as girls basketball coach this school year.