Ex-assistant principal sues school board, claims CRT teacher training created 'racially hostile' workplace

Emily Mais, a former assistant principal at Agnor-Hurt Elementary School, is suing the Albemarle County Public Schools board in Charlottesville, Virginia, for allegedly creating "a racially hostile work environment" that targeted non-black employees through the introduction of critical race theory agendas.

Her story culminates with the white educator accidentally saying "colored people" instead of "people of color," before quickly apologizing for the gaffe. A black teacher's aide didn't like that, and the incident started an alleged retaliatory harassment campaign that led Mais to resign from her job over the abuse.

Mais is suing on the basis of having her freedom of speech suppressed and violated, viewpoint discrimination after these racial "workshops" led staff to allegedly "brand" her as a racist, wrongful discharge in violation of public policy, along with creating a "retaliatory" and "racially hostile" work environment in violation of the Virginia Human Rights Act.

(The 45-page lawsuit is available to read here.)

The documents provide background into Mais: she's a Christian teacher who believed everyone was created equal in the "image and likeness of God." After spending over a decade teaching in Maryland, her daughter's stage 4 kidney cancer treatments led her family to relocate to Crozet, Virginia.

Mais began working as the assistant principal of Agnor-Hurt Elementary School by October 2018. Albemarle Public Schools adopted their "anti-racism" policy by February 2019, according to the complaint.

By November 2020, "the Division" launched their "anti-racism policy orientation" seminar, which used the teachings of anti-racist activist Ibram X. Kendi as the backing—Kendi's ideology being that the only way to combat racism is with more racism. The school system was told to adopt these beliefs.

It was the mandatory online seminar in March 2021 that exacerbated the situation. Mais had to attend a webinar called "Becoming an Anti-Racist School System: A Courageous Conversation," by Glenn Singleton, the author of Courageous Conversations About Race.

The lawsuit says the workplace experience Mais had at work degraded because of these trainings creating an increasingly hostile work environment. As the focus of the training materials forced staff to discuss "white privilege," it created racial divisions within their workplace.

The named party accused of creating a toxic work environment was teacher's aide Sheila Avery. She claimed to speak on behalf of black employees, and is described as having a history of brow-beating her non-black colleagues as having an inferior understanding of racism.

But the training required everyone to "speak their truth" which perpetuated this cycle of abuse. Mais fielded complaints from Jewish and biracial staff members who suffered the alleged prejudices of this black teacher's aide.

It was during a final "training session" in June 2021 that Mais had the misfortune of using "colored" instead of "people of color" during a conversation. She tried apologizing immediately but to no avail. "Ms. Avery ignored the apology and verbally attacked Ms. Mais for her slip of the tongue during the training and in front of all attendees, accusing Ms. Mais of speaking like old racists who told people of color to go to the back of the bus," the complaint describes.

This incident accelerated the harassment she received from Avery and other school staff throughout the summer. Mais tried reporting what happened to her superiors but they ignored her complaints, she said.

By September 2021, Mais chose to resign from her job because of the mental and physical health burdens created by the stressful job environment. "The Division" allegedly wanted her to lie about why she was leaving, and told her to tell other parents she was "leaving to explore another career opportunity."

For relief, Mais demands a jury trial for back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys' fees and costs.

Albemarle County Public Schools district spokesperson told The Hill: "We were not [formally] served until late this week and our in the process of reviewing its claims. Once we have completed our review, we will look forward to responding to these allegations in the appropriate legal forum."

(Assistant Superintendent Dr. Bernard Hairston, named in the lawsuit as the creator of the school district’s "anti-racism" policy, announced his retirement will come at the end of the 2021 - 2022 school year. The news comes days after this lawsuit was filed.)

This story took place before Glenn Youngkin won his election for Virginia governor. One of the main platforms for his campaign was promising a proactive response to ban critical race theory in the classroom, to the applause of parent groups who protested the curriculum.

Youngkin followed through on his CRT ban on his first day in office, back in January.

Other states have since taken inspiration and enacted similar legislation of their own. Earlier on Friday, Florida Governor Ron DesSantis signed a bill banning critical race theory from public schools within his state.