Ex-teacher sues York School Department alleging anti-LGBTQ discrimination

YORK, Maine — A former special education teacher is suing the York School Department alleging it discriminated against her based on sexual orientation and retaliated when she reported it.

Michele Figueira, who worked for the department from 2018 to 2021, filed the suit in York Superior Court July 10. She alleges the school department violated Title VII, which prohibits employers from discriminating against an employee based on sexual orientation.

Figueira claims she was discriminated against because she was a lesbian, and that her supervisor subjected her to jokes, stereotypes and specific work assignments. She says she reported the inappropriate comments but that administrators only facilitated a retaliatory environment against her. The school department opted not to renew Figueira’s contract in 2021. Figueira was still in her probationary period with the school department at the time.

Figueira filed a complaint in December 2020 with the Maine Human Rights Commission, which enforces Maine’s anti-discrimination laws. The five-person commission found earlier this year that there were reasonable grounds to believe discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity took place.

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The school district denies the allegations in the suit, according to its legal counsel, Jeana McCormick. The district made the case earlier this year before the Maine Human Rights Commission that none of the accusations were true.

“As the York School Department argued at the Maine Human Rights Commission, no discrimination or retaliation occurred in this case,” McCormick said in a written statement Friday. “The York School Department prohibits and is committed to providing a supportive and non-discriminatory work place for all of its employees.”

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Figueira alleges discrimination at York High School

Figueira's suit alleges she heard discriminatory comments from her supervisor that were “degrading and humiliating remarks about her sexuality.” When she revealed to her supervisor she was married to a woman, Figueira alleges her supervisor replied, “Duh, you didn’t think I knew that?” She also asked if Figueira and her wife had “roles” in their relationship, according to Figueira, and asked her about identifying other gay teachers.

“(Another teacher) says you people have something, something special that you can detect each other. You know like gaydar?” Figueira recounts what her supervisor said in the lawsuit.

Figueira also alleged her supervisor intentionally placed her with students who were gay or had gay parents. She says her supervisor once asked her before a meeting with a student, “Any chance you have a sweater or a shirt with the pride flag that you could wear when you meet (the student’s) fathers?"

“If not, do you have any rainbow colors that you can wear?” the supervisor allegedly continued, according to the suit.

Figueira made a formal complaint to school administrators on May 29, 2020, reporting her supervisor's comments. Her suit states that the school department responded by giving her supervisor a written warning for acting inappropriately. However, they also told her in a half-page letter from the school's Title IX coordinator that the supervisor's behavior never rose to a violation of the school department's harassment and discrimination policies.

Figueira alleges this is when her supervisor began to undermine her in front of her colleagues and singled her out for additional scrutiny and discipline. Figueira filed a new complaint Dec. 22, 2020, with the Maine Human Rights Commission. The commission can file lawsuits in cases where it finds reasonable grounds. Last October, the commission settled with a Walmart in Skowhegan, Maine, in a case regarding an employee’s intellectual disabilities.

The commission did not find all of Figueira’s claims to have reasonable grounds. While it agreed Figueira faced discrimination, the commission voted there were no grounds to believe the school retaliated against her. The votes were not unanimous, as two of the five commissioners voted in support of the retaliation allegation.

It was before the Maine Human Rights Commission that the school’s legal counsel made arguments in public about Figueira’s allegations. Attorney Kathleen Wade argued the school department found Figueira was not “collegial” in her behavior, resulting in violations and the department's decision not to offer her a new contract.

Wade told commissioners the school acknowledged inappropriate comments were made, but that they were investigated swiftly and it resulted in the comments stopping. She also said the discrimination did not meet the criteria of a hostile work environment under state law.

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Figueira demands trial, seeking damages from York School Department

The Maine Human Rights Commission told Figueira in a letter in April their legal counsel was determining whether it would file a lawsuit on behalf of Figueira. At the time she received the letter, Figueira said she was not preparing to file a suit herself.

Friday, Figueira said she could not comment on her decision to file the lawsuit. She is demanding a jury trial and asking the court to award her damages in the form of lost back pay, front pay, liquidated damages, attorney’s fees, costs and expenses, equitable and injunctive relief and “all other relief afford to her by law.”

“Ms. Figueira is a talented educator, and she was an asset to the York School District,” said Figueira’s attorney Laura White in a written statement. “She intends to hold the District accountable for the outrageous discrimination and retaliation alleged in the case.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Ex-teacher sues York ME schools alleging anti-LGBTQ discrimination