NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - A former New York City Department of Education employee is accusing multiple defendants of fostering a work environment that included bigotry, marginalization, discrimination, hostility and isolation towards minority populations like white women over 40 years old.
According to a lawsuit filed Feb. 19 in the New York County Supreme Court, Dr. Karen Cohen Ames has filed suit against the NYC DOE, NYC DOE Chancellor Richard Carranza, former NYC DOE First Deputy Chancellor Cheryl Watson-Harris, NYC DOE Senior Executive Director Rahesha Amon, former NYC DOE COO Ursulina Ramirez and David Hay.
Ames was an employee of the NYC DOE for 35 years. Until her termination in July 2020, she served as the District 8 Community Superintendent.
The suit states that the defendants Carranza, Watson-Harris and Ramirez were uncertified and unqualified for the positions they were appointed to.
Events in the suit began when Chancellor Carranza visited Dr. Ames' district on April 9, 2018. According to the documents, after the visit, Dr. Ames was in a car with former Deputy Chancellor Watson-Harris, who improperly inquired about the plaintiff's ethnicity and other demographics.
In June of the same year, Chancellor Carranza allegedly said at a gathering of NYC DOE superintendents that he was restructuring the department's administration, and "if you draw a paycheck from DOE, you will either get on board with my equity platform or leave."
Carranza also publicly demoted a senior leadership team of nine people and rapidly refilled the roles, without considering white women over 40 despite their qualifications.
Dr. Ames states that Carranza's "restructuring" included discriminating against white women over 40 years old in policy or leadership roles such as herself, and instead favoring unqualified employees that were not white or Hispanic.
For the multiple causes of action, Dr. Ames is seeking $10 million in damages from the defendants. She is represented by Goldberg and Markus PLLC, of New York.