A Black former Beverly Hills Unified School District assistant superintendent has tentatively settled her lawsuit in which she alleged she was wrongfully demoted because she complained that she and other Black administrators and teachers, as well as students, were subjected to racial discrimination and harassment.
A minute order written by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Cherol J. Nellon’s clerk stated that the case filed by plaintiff Laura Collins-Williams was tentatively resolved subject to final approval by the Board of Education. No terms were divulged.
In addition to being downgraded from her position as assistant superintendent for student services, Collins-Williams further maintained that a district Instagram posting approved by the superintendent that ostensibly celebrated Black History Month was instead insensitive and demeaning to Blacks.
In their court papers, BHUSD attorneys denied Collins-Williams allegations and disputed her damages claims.
Throughout plaintiff’s tenure, certain members of the board and BHUSD treated plaintiff markedly differently than the other assistant superintendents, all of whom were male and not Black, the suit alleged.
During the weekly Board of Education meetings, the members subjected Collins-Williams to “undue, excessive scrutiny, humiliating inquiries and insinuations of improprieties, even regarding the most mundane administrative issues,” compared to assistant superintendents who were neither Black nor female, the suit stated.
Collins-Williams’ white male subordinates accused her of being mean as if to suggest that she was an “angry black woman,” the suit stated.
In January 2023, the district posted an Instagram message commemorating Black History Month with 28 slides depicting Blacks unjustly murdered, but neither Collins-Williams or her staff were notified, the suit stated.
“As plaintiff was reading BHUSD’s confounding Instagram post … she became increasingly and emotionally distraught due to the racist, thoughtless and insensitive content,” according to the complaint.
Collins-Williams contended that the district’s reorganization of her department “materially changed the terms and conditions of her employment and prospects of promotional opportunities” and was done in retaliation for her complaints and opposition to racial discrimination and harassment.
The BHUSD created a new director position to replace the plaintiff’s three coordinator positions and hired a white male to fill the new director position, the suit stated.
In Collins-Williams’ 2018-2019 evaluation, the then-superintendent wrongfully accused her of intimidating principals and their staff, the suit stated. At the same time, the superintendent “inexplicably encouraged and empowered BHUSD School Site Principals to circumvent plaintiff’s authority and go directly to him with questions about issues that were within the plaintiff’s scope of duties and responsibilities, according to the suit.
In March 2022, Collins-Williams complained to the superintendent about alleged racist comments white students had made to Black pupils, the suit stated. In addition, a Black teacher said the “N” word was “running rampant” at one school, according to the suit.