The lawsuit alleges the Elizabeth School District discriminated and retaliated against LeEllen Condry and violated her First Amendment rights.
The former dean of students at Elizabeth Middle School filed a federal lawsuit Sunday against the Elbert County school district, alleging she was wrongly fired for being a Black woman who spoke out against aLeEllen Condry filed the lawsuit in U.
S. District Court in Denver after obtaining the right to sue from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Colorado Civil Rights Division.“Knowledge is power, but the Elizabeth School District is so hell-bent on depriving its students access to information that it not only banned books expressing marginalized viewpoints, it fired LeEllen Condry for demanding better,” Newman said in a news release. Dan Snowberger, the Elizabeth School District’s superintendent, told The Denver Post that the district is aware that a former employee is alleging discrimination. “The employee’s claims are not new and are part of a broader effort by the ACLU to attack the district because of a few decisions a vocal minority disagrees with,” Snowberger wrote in a statement. “The district has and will continue to defend itself in federal court from outside interests attempting to strong-arm the district’s elected board — a board that was overly retained by the voters a few short weeks ago. The district intends to defend itself in court, and the facts will show that the individual’s employment ended because she failed to take the steps to secure the necessary licensure for the position, and because the position was one of several eliminated for cost-saving reasons during a fiscal exigency.” Condry was hired as the dean of students at Elizabeth Middle School in June 2024. That August, she learned about a new district policy that restricted access to 19 library books the— included “Beloved” and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini and “#Pride: Championing LGBTQ Rights” by Rebecca Felix. “The book ban was inherently discriminatory, and it was the ESD board’s goal in implementing the ban to suppress voices by Black and LGBTQIA+ authors and content that discussed race-related and LGBTQIA+ topics, characters and experiences,” the lawsuit states. The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado sued the Elizabeth School District over the book policy in December. When the school board requested feedback on the policy, Condry said she wrote a letter explaining how the book ban was “unethical” and “racist.” According to the lawsuit, Condry’s response was “passionate” but “professional.” After Snowberger read Condry’s feedback, the lawsuit said he sent an email to all employees calling out Condry’s input as crossing the line and demanding “further disciplinary action.” Former Colorado middle-school dean alleges she was fired for protesting district’s book ban as racist Federal judge orders Colorado school district — for a second time — to return 19 removed books to library shelves Firing of Colorado librarian who objected to cancellation of programs for youth of color, LGBTQ teens was illegal, state concludesColorado school district rejects donation of “banned” books to be returned to library shelves “It was clear to Ms. Condry, however, that she was being terminated because she was a Black woman who dared to speak up and call the board racist for their decision to implement the book ban and for continually raising concerns about racism within ESD,” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit alleged Condry was replaced by a white woman who supported the removal of the books from library shelves. “It is time to end corruption, racism and discrimination in the Elizabeth School District,” Condry wrote in a news release. “It is now my time to take back my voice that was once silenced, and to speak up against the dishonest leadership that uses its power to erase the voices of diverse groups of people.”Parker Gabriel’s 7 thoughts on Broncos’ latest wild win, including backstory of Bo Nix and Evan Engram creating game’s biggest offensive play Parker Gabriel's 7 thoughts on Broncos' latest wild win, including backstory of Bo Nix and Evan Engram creating game's biggest offensive play Broncos fan finds massive YouTube show success with a mix of the profane, the inane and unabashed homerism Loopholes in CHSAA's transfer system allow program-jumping in high school sports, ADs and coaches sayColorado weather: More snow headed for mountains, Denver areaRenck: Bo Show remains a hit, especially in clutch, but Broncos cannot keep winning this way
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