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Superintendent Priya Tahiliani and her Deputy Superintendent Kim Tsai filed a joint suit against the City of Everett, Mayor Carlo Demaria, and the Everett School Committee on Tuesday, March 21 for a litany of racist acts that culminated in her tenure not being renewed, according to court documents.
According to the lawsuit:
Tahiliani, who was the first Superintendent of color in the history of the Everett public schools, and Tsai created a hiring practice that included the hiring of non-white employees.
The two were met with a response studded with racist and illegal acts from school district employees, including "demeaning and racist comments, abusive and disparate treatment, and unjustified and highly subjective discriminatory and retaliatory attacks."
Tahiliani and Tsai filed a discrimination complaint against the discriminatory behavior.
In retaliation to the complaint, illegal cameras were installed in Tahiliani's office ceiling, School Committee members attempted to remove Tahiliani from her post as Secretary of the School Committee, and the mayor stopped funding the school above legal requirements.
The mayor previously provided funding from $550,000 to $5.5 million dollars over the minimum required by law before the inclusive hiring practices began.
The Department of Justice began to investigate the school district because of the complaint filed by Tahiliani and Tsai. This prompted further punishment of the duo, the suit alleges, and the School Committee voted to not renew Tahiliani's contract.
"It is ultimately Everett’s school children who are forced to suffer," the suit said of the district's discriminatory practices. "That’s why the school children and their parents have taken to the streets to protest."
The lawsuit is seeking financial damages in an amount that will be determined at trial, that the school district, mayor, and School Committee cease and desist illegal and discriminatory conduct, and any other relief the Court sees as suitable.
The superintendent and her deputy are being represented by Gordon Law Group in Boston.
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