The DeKalb County (Ga.) School District will pay $750,000 to settle a lawsuit with a rejected superintendent candidate who said he was discriminated against because of his age and race.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the DeKalb school board approved the settlement agreement with Rudy Crew, former chancellor of New York City schools and former superintendent of the Miami-Dade County district. Most recently, Crew was president of Medgar Evers College in New York City before abruptly resigning in February.
Board chair Vickie Turner says she voted in favor of the settlement because it would “protect our assets.” Crew had sought about $1.5 million in damages.
In April 2020, the school board announced that Crew was the sole superintendent finalist.
But in a surprise move, the board voted a few weeks later not to offer Crew a contract. Eventually, it hired Cheryl Watson-Harris, formerly the first-deputy chancellor for the New York City Department of Education.
Crew, who was 69 at the time when the suit was filed, contended that board members made “ageist” remarks to him and to constituents in favor of younger candidates. The suit also alleged that board member Joyce Morley disparaged Crew because his late wife was white. Both Crew and Morley are Black.
The suit asserted that Morley undermined Crew’s selection out of “racial animus and suspicion” toward the white board members who supported him. Morley has denied the allegations in court documents.
