Retaliation at GA school over racism accusations, lawsuit says

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A principal sued his former school district in Georgia, saying his attendance was investigated after he accused an administrator of racism, according to the lawsuit. Getty Images

A former Georgia principal said her school district retaliated against her after she reported an associate superintendent who she alleged made racist comments, according to a lawsuit.

The lawsuit says Timothy Corrigan, a former associate superintendent of the Fulton County School District, opened an investigation into the principals’ attendance record after he accused him of making racist jokes. He then made false and misleading statements on his attendance record, which led to the district’s decision to terminate his employment, according to the lawsuit.

Bridgette Marques, who served as principal at State Bridge Crossing Elementary in Johns Creek, was given the opportunity to resign from her position in September 2021 and resigned effective Dec. 31, 2021, the lawsuit says. Johns Creek is about 30 miles northeast of Atlanta.

In June 2022, Marques filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which said Corrigan had made offensive remarks during meetings, including jokes about visiting a hair salon. Asian massage shortly after a series of high-profile police raids on salons suspected of prostitution activity, according to the lawsuit. . He also tried to imitate Asian speech and dialect patterns and referred to members of the LGBTQ community as feminine men, according to the lawsuit.

The school district declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. A person who answered the phone at the superintendents office said Corrigan was no longer employed by the district.

Corrigan is listed as the high school principal at Kings Ridge Christian School in Alpharetta. He declined to comment.

Marques, who was the only black person to hold a senior administrative position at State Bridge Crossing School, said in 2019 Corrigan told her the school might not be the best fit for her and said said he received a complaint about her signed by several teachers who said she created a hostile work environment, according to the lawsuit.

A talent review team reviewed the complaint and found that the evidence was inconclusive and that Marques had not violated any district policies, the lawsuit says.

When Corrigan opened an investigation into Marquess’ 2021 attendance record, Corrigan gave inaccurate or misleading information about her arrival and departure times on August 6, 2021, according to the lawsuit. That morning, he and Marques had been texting about someone who was at school the day before who had tested positive for COVID-19. The school was following its contract search protocols and Marques was waiting to see if she was allowed in, according to the lawsuit.

She noticed an email from the school nurse in her inbox that had been sent on the evening of August 5, 2021, authorizing her to go to work, and she told Corrigan around 8:45 a.m. on the 6 August 2021 that she was going to enter, the lawsuit says. During the investigation, however, Corrigan told investigators that Marques misrepresented his arrival time that day and told him the hangar arrived at 6:20 a.m., according to the lawsuit.

He also told investigators that she did not work eight hours on several days over the summer, according to the lawsuit. But a previous email he sent to district principals about the summer schedule didn’t say principals had to be on school grounds for full eight-hour days during the summer. , according to the lawsuit.

Marks is asking for back pay, upfront salary and loss of benefits, including health insurance, accrued sick leave and accrued pension contributions, the lawsuit says. The amount she is asking for is not included in the lawsuit.

Madeleine List is a McClatchy National Real-Time reporter. She has reported for the Cape Cod Times and the Providence Journal.

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