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Attorney Sues New York City Department Of Educatiocan International High School | USAO-SDNY | Department of Justice

11/06/2016 06:47

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U.S. Attorneys Southern District of New York News Press Releases

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorneys Office
Southern District of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Sues New York City Department Of

Education For Discrimination And Retaliation At Pan
American International High School
Lawsuit Alleges That the Department Discriminated Against Black Teachers Who
Worked at the School and Retaliated Against an Assistant Principal Who Spoke Out
Against the Discrimination
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that
the United States has filed a lawsuit against the NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (the
DOE) for engaging in a pattern and practice of discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII. The
Government alleges that during the 2012-2013 school year, the DOE permitted Principal Minerva Zanca
and Superintendent Juan Mendez to discriminate against every black teacher at Pan American
International High School (Pan American) and retaliate against an assistant principal who spoke out
against the discrimination.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: It is nearly unthinkable that, in this day and age, one of the
largest and most diverse school districts in the United States would allow racial discrimination and
retaliation to flourish. Yet that is what we allege happened at Pan American International High School.
Federal civil rights laws prohibit this misconduct. This suit seeks to remedy the violations that occurred
at Pan American and ensure that the New York City Department of Education protects its employees civil
rights in the future.
As alleged in the Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court:
In August 2012, Superintendent Mendez selected Minerva Zanca as Pan Americans new principal.
During the 2012-2013 school year, Pan American employed 27 teachers, three of whom were black.
Throughout that school year, Principal Zanca purposely targeted John Flanagan and Heather Hightower,
two untenured black teachers, for unsatisfactory lesson ratings. According to Assistant Principal Anthony
Riccardo, Principal Zanca decided to give Mr. Flanagan and Ms. Hightower unsatisfactory ratings before
she had seen the lesson she was supposed to evaluate.
In connection with her reviews of Mr. Flanagan and Ms. Hightower, Principal Zanca made derogatory
racial comments to Assistant Principal Riccardo. Specifically, Principal Zanca stated that Hightower
looked like a gorilla in a sweater, asked whether Assistant Principal Riccardo had seen Flanagans big
lips quivering during a meeting, complained that she could never have fucking nappy hair like
Hightower, and stated that she had difficulty not laughing at Flanagan because he reminded her of a
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-sues-new-york-city-department-education-discrimination-and

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Manhattan U.S. Attorney Sues New York City Department Of Educatiocan International High School | USAO-SDNY | Department of Justice

11/06/2016 06:47

Tropicana commercial where a black man with those same lips danced down a supermarket aisle.
Principal Zanca also discriminated against Lisa-Erika James, a tenured black teacher, by cutting the
highly successful theater program Ms. James oversaw. On multiple occasions during the 2012-2013
school year, Principal Zanca attempted to cancel student productions. First, she refused to pay for
expenses associated with a production. When money for the production was obtained from other
sources, Principal Zanca then claimed that the school could not pay overtime wages for more than five
hours of rehearsal per week. Pan American in fact had sufficient money to pay for more rehearsal, and
Principal Zanca simply reallocated that money to other projects. Ultimately, the second student
production of the 2012-2013 school year was cancelled.
During the spring of 2013, when Assistant Principal Riccardo refused to give an unsatisfactory rating to a
lesson taught by Ms. Hightower, Principal Zanca yelled at Assistant Principal Riccardo, accused him of
sabotaging her plan, and called school security to have him removed from the building. Subsequently,
Principal Zanca initiated two complaints against Assistant Principal Riccardo with the DOEs internal
investigatory offices. Those offices determined that Principal Zancas allegations did not warrant any
charges against Assistant Principal Riccardo. In June of 2013, Principal Zanca gave Assistant Principal
Riccardo, Mr. Flanagan, and Ms. Hightower annual performance ratings of unsatisfactory.
The allegations that Principal Zanca engaged in discrimination and retaliation were brought to the
attention of Superintendent Mendez, but the DOE did not take any disciplinary action against Principal
Zanca. Even after the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found reasonable
cause to believe that the DOE had discriminated and retaliated against James, Riccardo, and Hightower,
Principal Zanca was allowed to remain in charge of Pan American. Neither Ms. Hightower, Mr. Flanagan,
Ms. James, nor Mr. Riccardo worked at Pan American after the 2012-2013 school year.
Title VII authorizes the Department of Justice to commence an action in the United States District Court
against the DOE to remedy discrimination and retaliation for opposing discrimination. The Complaint
seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as compensatory damages on behalf of Mr. Flanagan, Ms.
James, Ms. Hightower, and Assistant Principal Riccardo.
In October of 2013, Mr. Flanagan filed a lawsuit against the DOE, Principal Zanca, Superintendent
Mendez, and others. That suit was docketed as Flanagan v. N.Y.C. Dept of Educ. et al., No. 13 Civ.
8456. On August 21, 2015, Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV recommended the denial of
Defendants motion for summary judgment on Mr. Flanagans Title VII claims for discrimination and
retaliation. The DOE has not objected to Judge Franciss recommendation, and the deadline for doing so
has expired. The United States anticipates moving to intervene in Flanagan and to consolidate that case
with its own.
The case is being handled by the Offices Civil Rights Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Caleb Hayes-Deats
is in charge of the case.
16-156
Topic:
Civil Rights
Download U.S. v. NYC DOE Complaint

USAO - New York, Southern

Updated June 9, 2016

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-sues-new-york-city-department-education-discrimination-and

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