By: Sandra L. Jacques, Esq., LL.M., Assistant Director of Legal Education
April 2025
High level school administrators play a critical role in the school district, in part by setting the tone for how to appropriately interact with others in a nondiscriminatory manner. For example, the school business administrator interacts with staff by providing support, assistance, information and resources related to finance, operations, and budget matters, retirement, and FMLA, Maternity/Paternity and other leave issues, as well as salary and other benefits. To address these wide-ranging responsibilities, the B.A. will have interactions, both in groups and one-on-one with staff, and need to have interpersonal and communication skills, leadership and organizational skills, and the ability to build trust with those that seek guidance and assistance.
You should be aware of signs of a discriminatory, hostile and/or toxic workplace that you may be (possibly unknowingly) contributing to, which creates an environment that is inappropriate and toxic, and could lead to costly litigation against the School District. The following is an overview of the types and examples of such behavior that could lead to litigation.
Potential Discrimination Issues
Numerous state and federal laws protect school employees from discrimination in the workplace. For example, “under [federal] Title VII, it is unlawful for an employer “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”42 U.S.C. §2000e-2(a)(1).” Schoenadel v. YouGov America, Inc., No. 1:2022cv10236 – Document 162 (S.D.N.Y. 2025)
Sexual Harassment/Title IX
Freedom from employment discrimination includes the opportunity to work in an environment free of sexual harassment. Sexual Harassment includes all unwelcome sexual advances, as well as “conduct/contact of a sexual nature,” which includes both physical and verbal conduct, relating to the victim’s gender, sexual orientation or sexual identity. The key test to determine whether conduct aligns with the definition of sexual harassment is to ask – would the conduct not have occurred “but for” the victim’s gender or sex?
There are two types of sexual harassment: a “Quid Pro Quo” Situation and/or a Hostile Work Environment. In a Quid Pro Quo Situation, there is favorable treatment for accepting sexual advances, and unfavorable treatment for rejecting them. As an example, conditioning that a person’s promotion will only occur if the staff member agrees to do something for you, such as engaging in a sexual activity.
A Hostile Work Environment is harassment that is based on gender or gender identity, that is sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive to limit a person’s ability to function in the workplace, or to create a hostile, or abusive, working environment. Examples of this behavior would include but are not unlimited to, unwanted touching and/or physical proximity to a person and inappropriate comments regarding their gender or sexual identity. It is important to stress that an individual may be the victim of a hostile work environment without being the intended target of the aggressor, such as when the employee is subjected to sexually charged comments between colleagues in the workplace, if the standards outlined below are met.
Additional Discrimination Issues
Discrimination is severe or pervasive conduct that causes harm to an employee where a reasonable employee would find the behavior (gestures, comments, jokes, electronic communications, posters, etc.) offensive and the conduct in question involves some form of discrimination linked to a protected class under state or federal discrimination law. The Federally protected classes are race, creed, color, National Origin, ancestry, age, pregnancy, sex religion, disability, military service, atypical cellular blood trait, and nationality. Under the NJ Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) additional protected classes in the state of NJ are marital/domestic partnership/civil union status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identification or expression and hair in accordance with the NJ Crown Act.
Another important law to understand is the Equal Pay Act, which is part of NJLAD and prohibits discrimination in compensation for similarly situated employees. For example, if two equally qualified and experienced teachers were to be hired by the district and the female employee was placed on Step 1 and the male employee on Step 5 of the salary guide, this could create a potential claim under the Equal Pay Act. It would be irrelevant to the analysis that the male teacher had a higher salary in his prior district and was only willing to move if his new salary exceeded his prior salary, while the female employee had a lower salary in their prior district and was happy to start at Step 1. The district would need to provide a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason to justify the pay differential. For a complete overview of the Equal Pay Act, see the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights’ Guidance on the Equal Pay Act document.
In matters involving Disability, Workers’ Compensation, FMLA, Maternity/Paternity and Other Leaves of Absence, unreasonable delay(s) of completing required paperwork for “compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment” and/or unfair treatment of the person seeking such benefits, which may include unnecessary weekend and after work calls/emails/texts demanding an immediate response, may evolve into Discrimination claims against the School District. Caselaw examples of allegations of improper treatment because of their protected class(es) are listed below.
- In the case referenced earlier, Schoenadel, “sued (her employer) for compensatory and punitive damages, after she resigned, alleging that because of her gender, the company passed her over for a promotion, denied her compensation, and diminished her responsibilities. Schoenadel claimed that the misconduct of (her employer) worsened after she complained about bias, forcing her to resign.” Id. The Court ultimately denied the Employer’s Motion for Summary Judgment, and allowed the litigation to proceed to trial.
- In the Arbitration Matter of Ronald Becker v. Monroe SD 1/8/2020, Conduct Unbecoming Charges were filed against an Administrator for making inappropriate remarks to a contracted service provider. The Vice Principal thought he was “joking around” when he referred to Hispanic workers as the “The Three Amigos”. The Vice Principal received a 30-day suspension.
- In the Arbitration Matter of John Podesta v. Dumont Borough SD 6/23/20, Conduct Unbecoming Charges were filed against the Principal for inappropriate behavior towards a female Vice Principal. The Principal’s conduct was deemed to be “egregious”, and the charges were granted, thereby terminating the Principal from his position.
Retaliation
Employees who report any form of discrimination are not to be retaliated against in the workplace for their reporting. A Plaintiff must establish that the School District Employer took an adverse employment action after or contemporaneous with a protected activity of the plaintiff, and that a causal link between the protected activity and the adverse action exists. Such conduct could include, but is not limited to, management employees inappropriately assigning tasks, reprimanding, or assigning discipline, once a complaint has been asserted by the employee. For a B.A., once a claim for benefits has been made, it could be engaging in inappropriate conduct, such as acting in a hostile manner towards the employee, inappropriate communications with the employee using derogative or pejorative language and/or behaviors, and unnecessary delays and/or avoidance of said employee.
Healthy Workplace Environment Policy
Most New Jersey school districts also have a Healthy Workplace Environment Policy. Under this policy, Employers and Employees must maintain a healthy workplace by interacting with others with “dignity and respect”. An example of Typical Healthy Workplace Environment Policy Language is:
“A significant characteristic of a healthy workplace environment is that employees interact with each other with dignity and respect regardless of an employee’s work assignment or position in the school district. Repeated malicious conduct of an employee or group of employees directed toward another employee or group of employees in the workplace that a reasonable person would find hostile or offensive is unacceptable and is not conducive to establishing or maintaining a healthy workplace environment.”
In addition to being denied their rights, staff could also be negatively affected by a toxic/unhealthy work environment. Examples of the negative effects include, but are not limited to: a Disruption to Work-Life Balance, Depression/Anxiety, Avoidance or limiting contact with the offending B.A. or Administrator, and a fear of voicing thoughts/concerns in the workplace.
An Unhealthy/Toxic Workplace Environment Could Impact Potential Litigation Against a School District
A School District creates an unhealthy workplace when it engages in repeated verbal abuse of another, in the form of derogatory remarks or insults; verbal or physical conduct that a reasonable person would find threatening, intimidating, or humiliating; or gratuitous sabotage or undermining of another’s work performance or rights to benefits. Additional signs of a toxic/unhealthy work environment include unreasonable expectations such as demanding an immediate response to non-emergency calls/emails/texts after work hours and over the weekend or holiday breaks, denial of position enhancing opportunities, passive aggressive behavior, or micromanagement of a staff member’s time or responsibilities. See: https://www.themuse.com/advice/toxic-work-environment and https://tinyurl.com/Article12toxicsigns
Potential SD Repercussions
Grievances
“Persons in public employment shall have the right to organize, present to
and make known to the State, or any of its political subdivisions or agencies,
their grievances and proposals through representatives of their own choosing.”
(New Jersey Constitution, Art. I, ¶19) Public employees are “able to grieve those policies, agreement or administrative decisions which affect the terms and conditions of public employment…” Twp. West Windsor v. PB.A. Local 130 ,78 N.J. 98 (1978). While definitions vary as to what is a “grievance” in local collective bargaining agreements, such clauses will always include behavior that violates explicit terms of the contract and/or unilaterally changes terms and conditions of employment, which certainly could include the types of improper conduct by a B.A. or other Administrator discussed in this article.
Litigation – Discrimination / Retaliation / Constructive Discharge Claims
A Business Administrator must be careful to refrain from using inappropriate language, comments and/or actions during interactions with staff. As an example, if it can be shown that the B.A. referred to female employees with terms including, but not limited to “honey”, “young lady”, sweetheart”, “Dear”, curse words, or otherwise derogatory names, which in turn places a woman in an uncomfortable setting while they have to work with the B.A., and interferes with the employees’ job or reception of benefits, the School District is ripe for a discrimination lawsuit.
In Thomas et al v. Florida Health and Rehabilitation, LLC, No. 2:2023cv00443 – Document 61 (M.D. Ala. 2024), plaintiffs claimed that they were subjected to a Hostile Work Environment Based on Race Discrimination and Retaliation. “Plaintiffs allege(d) their white supervisors and co-workers at FHR regularly uttered racial epithets and racist commentary directly to or near them, assigned them to less desirable and “more physically arduous” assignments, subjected them to inconsistent workplace rules and standards based on their race, maintained a private group chat “littered with racist commentary about Plaintiffs” (Id. at 13), afforded white employees better job opportunities and work assignments, and gave black employees fewer overtime opportunities and less shift flexibility.” Id. at 3. The alleged workplace retaliation included, termination and failure to remedy the situation.
The Thomas Court noted that “…the Supreme Court’s Harris factors guide courts when they consider the objective hostility of a work environment: 1) the frequency of the conduct; (2) the severity of the conduct; (3) whether the conduct “is physically threatening or humiliating, or a mere offensive utterance;” and (4) whether the conduct “unreasonably interferes with the employee’s job performance.” Allen v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 121 F.3d 642, 647 (11th Cir. 1997) (citing Harris, 510 U.S. at 23). Ultimately, the Court denied the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss for 13 of Plaintiffs’ claims and allowed the litigation to proceed. See: https://tinyurl.com/ArticleRemediesToxicWorkEnv
In conclusion, it is imperative that a B.A. and other Administrators maintain a professional working relationship with the staff of a School District for at least two reasons: (1) it’s the right thing to do, and (2) to avoid potential litigation. All School District staff should receive training about these issues, and violations should be dealt with fairly and expeditiously.