Judge dismisses Prince George bus driver's discrimination suit against county school system
RICHMOND — A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit against the Prince George school system from a bus driver who claimed her contract was not renewed due to racism and discrimination.
The decision from Judge Henry Hudson, which was released Thursday morning, was dismissed "with prejudice," meaning that Addie Thweatt cannot refile the case in the Eastern District of Virginia Court.
Using evidence and arguments entered into court at the summary of a judgment hearing on May 3, Hudson was able to determine that "in the case of discrimination even taking all the facts in the light most favorable to Thweatt, there was no reasonable trier of fact could find in her favor."
Thweatt also alleged School Board retaliation against her because she filed a "Report of Discrimination and Harassment." Thweatt believes that because she filed the report, her contract was not renewed for the 2020-2021 school year.
In the lawsuit, Thweatt "can only show temporal proximity between her protected activity and termination... plus statistical evidence that two out of three bus drivers that engaged in protected activity were terminated." The court also said that there was "no reasonable trier of fact could conclude that the School Board retaliated...."
Messages to Thweatt's lawyer were not returned at the time of this publishing.
Prince George County Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Lisa Pennycuff, released the following, "Prince George County Public Schools remains committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment free from all forms of discrimination."
Zoe Collins Rath (she/her/hers) is an award-winning Sports Columnist and Investigative Reporter. She is the Sports and Education reporter for The Progress- Index. For times email her at ZCollinsRath@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @zoe_jordan99.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Judge dismisses discrimination lawsuit against Virginia school system
