Prep School Fired Educators Over Critical Race Theory, Suit Says

Pennsylvania’s Sewickley Academy scrapped its diversity initiative because a group of parents wrongly labeled it “Critical Race Theory dressed in sheep’s clothing,” and then fired five Black educators, including a nationally recognized authority on teaching students of color, a federal lawsuit filed in Pittsburgh alleges.

The private prep school also soon fired the chair of the history and social sciences department of its senior school, two teachers from that department, and an English teacher, because they opposed the racial discrimination, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The school’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice policy was adopted by its board of trustees in May 2019. According to Sewickley’s then-head of school, it simply reflected that, “Racism is not a black people’s problem to solve—it is a white people’s problem to solve,” and the notion that all people must work together for justice and equality, the suit said.

The head of school also said progress will only be made in the US when the country addresses “racism and the legacy of slavery that haunts us even to this day,” according to the suit.

Sewickley responded after a parents’ group complained in June 2021, and, within a month, it had removed the head of school, the suit said. The new head of school quickly stated a commitment to restoring Sewickley to the school it used to be, the suit said.

That included firing all four Black members of its administrative team and the lone Black teacher at its lower school, the suit said.

Faculty was then directed to not discuss “anything racially controversial” or “current events” in Black history classes, to assure “both sides” of slavery and other issues were taught in those classes, and to stop opposing the firings of the Black administrators and teacher, the suit said.

The four plaintiffs continued to oppose the school’s racial bias and worked for social justice anyway, according to the suit. That included wearing social justice buttons and, for two of the teachers, scheduling an opt-in reading and group discussion about critical race theory, the suit said.

The discussion, however, was postponed under pressure from the school and all four of them were soon fired, the suit said.

Causes of Action: 42 U.S.C. §1981.

Relief: Order enjoining retaliation against teachers for opposing race discrimination; ordering reinstating them in jobs or front pay in lieu of reinstatement; back pay; compensation for diminished career advancement opportunities; compensatory and punitive damages; attorneys’ fees and costs.

Response: Sewickley Academy didn’t immediately respond Wednesday to Bloomberg Law’s request for comment.

Attorneys: Samuel J. Cordes & Associates represents the former department chair and three teachers.

The case is Cerniglia v. Sewickley Acad., W.D. Pa., No. 2:22-cv-00733, complaint filed 5/17/22.