Can Chicago legally hire a man who violated anti-discrimination laws in Rochester New York?
A preliminary investigation of Chicago's mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel announcement to appoint Jean-Claude Brizard to be the next Chief Executive Officer of Chicago's public schools shows the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC Charge No. 525-2010-00266), Buffalo Local Office on June 29, 2010 found Mr. Brizard to have discriminated against one of his employees in his position as Superintendent of Schools for the Rochester City School District.
The EEOC findings are part of an open federal discrimination lawsuit (Case 6:10-CV-06384-MAT) in the Western District of New York, against Mr. Brizard. The plaintiff is Marilyn Patterson-Grant an African American and 57 years old that started working in the Rochester district in 1975 as a teacher and rose through the ranks to become Deputy Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, the district’s top administrator in charge of instruction was terminated on January 26, 2010. Subsequently, Ms. Patterson-Grant filed charges against the District and Mr. Brizard with the EEOC the Federal agency responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
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"Mr. Brizard is quoted as saying that you will 'retire in place' or 'RIP'. Comments that were made at various board meetings, that gave an inference of age discrimination and also there's an allegation that Mr. Brizard mad made comments about the fact that the plaintiff was a strong, black woman and that's why they didn't get along," said Christina Agola, Patterson-Grant's lawyer in telephone interview.
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Federal Lawsuit Against Jean-Claude Brizard 10-CV-06384
After the EEOC conducted an investigation it was found that there was direct evidence that the person [Mr. Brizard] who made the decision to discharge Charging Party had a bias based on age and had a bias regarding African American women. Respondent did not provide a business necessity reason for discharging Charging Party and it did not provide a credible non-discriminatory reason for discharging Charging Party. Based on this analysis…the evidence obtained during the investigation establishes violations of the statutes as follows: Respondent discharged Charging Party because of her sex, her race and her age. (p. 1, EEOC Charge No. 525-2010-00266)
"In teaching, age matters" to a citywide principals meeting in Rochester and that he told Patterson-Grant and other top administrators they "all are old."
EEOC Findings Jean-Claude Brizard June 29, 2010
"I think we should sue his ass," Rochester, N.Y., school board member Cynthia Elliott told ABC affiliate WHAM-TV.
The Board of Education has clear policies regarding Discrimination and Deceptive Practices: Chapter I, Organization of the Board of Education Sec. 1-9. It is the policy of the Board to prohibit unlawful discrimination on the basis of any classifications protected by the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Illinois and applicable federal, state or local laws or ordinances, including but not limited to discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity/expression, age, religion, disability, national origin or sexual orientation. (p. 2, Board Rules)
Here’s what former Interim Superintendent of the Rochester schools, Dr. William Cala. had to say about the graduation rates, in a series of e-mails with Brizard which were obtained by a Rochester reporter using the Freedom of Information Act:
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear. Brizard had nothing to do with a 12 point graduation increase. Here are the facts. In 2007 the graduation results were announced by SED for 2006 graduates at 39%. In 2008 the results for the 2007 year were announced at 51%. 2008 was Brizard’s first year. The 12% increase came before he stepped in the door. The real facts are that graduation rates dipped below 51% during his tenure, thus actually losing ground.
The 2010 state report card for Rochester shows a 46% high school graduation rate for the federal NCLB accountability figure. The same figure for CPS is 71.8% (go to this page on the ISBE web site, scroll down to the bottom, click on “City of Chicago SD 299″ under District and then go to p. 31 in the pdf document).
Brizard started the Rochester job in 2008. The state report card for that year shows a graduation rate of 49%.
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The Board also has rules regarding employment in Chapter Iv Personnel Rules, Sec. 4-4. Employment Requirements, k. Compliance with Laws and Board Policies and Rules Prohibiting Discrimination. All employees must comply with laws and Board policies and rules prohibiting discrimination, including laws and policies prohibiting sexual harassment. (p. 24, Board Rules)
there are questions about whether his wife, K. Brooke Stafford Brizard, is a part of his Chicago Public Schools deal. In Rochester, while slashing public school budgets, Brizard moved to enlist new privately run charter schools, including an all-girls charter school that was to have been led by his wife and open in 2012.
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In a system that has an Inspector General that in FY10 was allocated $1.9 million and staffed with 17 full-time employees that spent a third of its time investigating internet usage and where people live (p. 1, OIG Report FY10) the question now is, will the OIG investigate Mr. Brizard so the OIG can issue a report to the Board of Education before he is hired regarding compliance with Board Rules in regards to hiring requirements of person under investigation and in court for violating federal law. OIG corruption
The contract governing the SEG says raises are to be awarded on July 1. In the audit, the comptroller says the SEG contract stipulates that raises are limited to no more than 5 percent above the Consumer Price Index, “unless special circumstances warrant a greater increase as explained by the Superintendent to the Board.” The C.P.I. from July 2008 to July 2009 was flat.
School board members said no one explained the raises and they did not know anyone received a salary increase.
“How would we know? It's completely the superintendent's prerogative,” said Willa Powell. She and other board members blame their lack of knowledge on SEG salaries on a state law that allows the Rochester superintendent to appoint his top staff and set their pay.
When asked why he did not inform the board of the raises, Brizard said, “Everything that I've done has been within the powers that I currently have.” He added that unlike his predecessor, he does performance evaluations and has never handed out bonuses.
Some of the employees who got raises have new titles. When Alpha Daily-Majors went from Director of Human Resources to Director of Human Capital Initiatives, her salary increased by 8 percent to $111,500. A labor relations specialist who was promoted to a manager received a 37 percent increase, bringing her salary to $85,000.
Other employees got significant raises, even though their titles did not change. Gladys Pedraza-Burgos, got a 14 percent raise, bumping her salary to $108,000. One secretary got a 13 percent raise and another got a 7 percent increase. A secretary who was assigned to the superintendent received a 10 percent raise, bringing her salary to $74,525.
Brizard denied his secretary got a raise.
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A panel discusses the appointment of Jean-Claude Brizard as the new CPS CEO.
Watch the full episode. See more Chicago Tonight.
First, there is the ethical question of that long term contract that Brizard signed late last year with Rochester, New York school officials. The contract paid him $235,000 and his often-stated pledge, which is still on the school district website, is to carry out his five year plan.
Second: the legal question of a newly signed contract in New York that requires "termination by mutual agreement." That means the school board in Rochester has to agree to let Brizard out of his commitment.
Then there are the questions about why Brizard was unreachable the past week by phone or text message. School board members and city officials said that for days he would not return their calls.
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Ken Davis is joined by Steve Rhodes, editor of The Beachwood Reporter, cyber-columnist Monroe Anderson and Lorraine Forte, editor in chief, Catalyst Chicago. They discuss the appointment of Jean-Claude Brizard as new Chicago school CEO and the future of journalism.
Another school board member suggested Jean-Claude Brizard should be forced to pay the estimated $100,000 cost of the search for his replacement. The bad feelings come after Brizard announced he was breaking his recently signed multi-year contract with the 32,000-student Rochester schools to accept an offer from Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel to run the 410,000-student Chicago school system.
Brizard's contract with Rochester calls for any early separation to be mutually agreed upon. The Rochester school board president said he was informed of Brizard's decision to leave via text message followed later in the day by a formal resignation letter and press conference in Chicago.
"He has to buy us out," Rochester school board member Van White said. "It can be fairly argued that by sending us that letter, he breached the terms of our agreement."
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Brizard "school Board comes first" what about breaking his 3 year contract?
“You don’t have to be F. Lee Bailey or Johnny Cochran to figure this out,’’ Rochester School Board member Van White, a civil rights lawyer, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “To make the taxpayers pay for this wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be fair.’’
References
Discrimination Found Against Former RCSD Official in Rare EEOC Case, Barnhart, R.(2010, July 7) (Reporter) 13WHAM News, ABC News, Rochester, NY. http://www.13wham.com/...
Patterson-Grant vs. Brizard Case 10-CV-06384, US Western District of New York.
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Office of the Inspector General, Chicago Board of Education, Annual Report July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010, Prepared pursuant to 105 ILCS 5/34-13.1(e) http://www.cps.edu/...
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Marilynn Grant vs. Rochester City School District, Charge No. 525-2010-00266, June 29, 2010.
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Links from a Rochester Reporter on Brizard Corruption
2009:
RCSD School Officials in Vegas During Testing, Layoffs
RCSD Board to Question Brizard’s Raise
Brizard Hires $100,000-a-Year, Part-Time Special Assistant
RCSD’s Central Kitchen Cited by Health Inspectors
RCSD Issued Hundreds of Credit Cards to Employees
Principals Told to Cut Art, Music, Phys Ed
RCSD Staff Stayed at Luxury Resort During Budget Crisis
2010:
Inside the Rubber Room
Brizard Created Cabinet Positions Without Board Approval
RCSD Cabinet Spending at Record Levels
Brizard Said He Didn't Give Raises to Top Staff, but He Did
State Test Scores Plummet, Erasing Gains
Brizard Spinning Graduation Data
Former Superintendent Blasts Brizard's Interpretation of Grad Rate Data
EEOC Finds Brizard Discriminated Against Official
2011
Staff Survey Finds Little Support for Brizard
Fact-Checking Brizard on Cabinet Spending
State: Only 5% of RCSD Grads Ready for College
RCSD Budget Deeply Cuts Arts, Music, Foreign Language