School superintendent groped worker, then fired her for rejecting him, NC lawsuit says
A North Carolina school superintendent is accused of groping an employee during a private meeting, then firing her months after she rejected him, a federal lawsuit says.
Larissa York, the former chief financial officer for Currituck County Schools, is suing Superintendent Matthew Lutz and the school district for at least $2 million, arguing she was unfairly fired on July 15, 2021 after Lutz assaulted her, a complaint filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina states. The lawsuit seeking a trial by jury was filed on Sept. 19.
The filing comes after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission granted Larissa York the right to sue, according to the complaint filed on behalf of her by Thomas York, her attorney and husband.
“Lutz tries to set up a smoke screen alleging many reasons for (Larissa York’s) termination, but most, if not all, of those fabrications are easily rebutted…Lutz was actually motivated by the refusal of his sexual advances,” the complaint states.
Lutz told McClatchy News in a statement that “I have and will continue to vehemently deny the false accusations made by Larissa York and her husband and attorney Tom York.”
Larissa York was hired in July 2019 as the chief financial officer for Currituck County Schools by another superintendent and says she was considered a “fully competent” CFO from June 2020, when Lutz was hired as interim superintendent, to February 2021, when she was groped by Lutz, the lawsuit states.
Larissa York says she met with Lutz in late February 2021 after he called her in an office for a private meeting, according to the complaint. There, she says Lutz locked the door and proceeded to inappropriately grab her in close proximity.
When she moved forward to “escape (his) grasp” and expressed disapproval, Larissa York says the superintendent’s face turned red and he became angry.
Following the incident, Larissa York consulted with her husband and considered courses of action to take against Lutz, according to the complaint. The couple ultimately decided “any reporting of the sexual harassment would result in her further harm and in her termination.”
Then, Larissa York says she began keeping a written record of Lutz’s inappropriate conduct, but the notes were later “lost, stolen, or destroyed” by officials within the school district, according to the complaint.
After February 2021, Lutz began requesting to meet Larissa York at odd times and when she refused, he would criticize her and launch “verbal attacks,” the complaint states.
Lutz is accused of telling Larissa York ‘“You know what I expect, and things will be fine if you just do it,” according to the complaint. “The clear meaning was that (Larissa York) needed to give in to his sexual advances.”
Furthermore, Lutz is accused of invading Larissa York’s personal space by brushing up against her at work, and also discussing a prior affair he had with an assistant principal that purportedly benefited the woman’s career, according to the lawsuit.
On July 15, 2021, Lutz fired Larissa York, informing her it was for two reasons related to her alleged mismanagement of school funds, the complaint states. Days later, he specified 19 different reasons to support firing her in a memo, the Daily Advance reports.
Larissa York maintains that on July 15, 2021, she reported to school district officials that she was a “victim of sexual discrimination.”
The Currituck County Board of Education refuted this assertion in a statement to McClatchy News.
“Following the termination of Mrs. York’s employment with the school system, Mrs. York for the first time made allegations against the Superintendent, which he adamantly denies,” Karen Etheridge, the chairman of the school board, told McClatchy News.
Etheridge added that “York was afforded an opportunity for a fair and impartial hearing before the Board of Education to review her concerns but declined to participate.”
However, Thomas York told McClatchy News in a statement that the hearing’s maximum duration of two hours was an inadequate amount of time for his wife to present her case against Lutz.
“The Board Members would not assure the cooperation of witnesses from the School District when they refused to tell their employees there would not be retaliation for truthful testimony,” Thomas York said.
Additionally, Thomas York said the board provided Lutz an attorney for free but did not do so for his wife.
Etheridge, the board chairman, told McClatchy News that the lawsuit is under review and that they will respond through court filings.
“The judicial process will be lengthy and we have full faith the truth will be revealed and justice served,” Lutz said in his statement to McClatchy News.
The lawsuit, which accuses the defendants of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was also filed against the school district’s current CFO Susan Mizelle, who is accused of defaming Larissa York in order to assume her position.
McClatchy News contacted Mizelle for comment on Sept. 26 and was awaiting a response.
Currituck County is about 185 miles northeast of Raleigh. The school district has about 4,100 students.
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