Elizabeth Forward teachers win lawsuit
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Twelve Elizabeth Forward teachers have won a $1.2 million federal age and gender discrimination lawsuit against the school district.
A jury Tuesday found the district's conduct was willful, making it possible for the teachers to ask U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer to double nearly $1 million of the judgment found for age discrimination. Interest and attorneys' fees also will be sought. The remainder is for compensatory damages.
The jury also found in favor of a 13th teacher, but did not award her any money.
"We appreciate the jury's hard work and diligence. We are most pleased with the results," said Colleen Ramage Johnston, attorney for the teachers.
District spokeswoman Jane Milner said, "The district does not agree with that verdict, and we are exploring all of our options at this time."
Ms. Johnston said the district used to have a policy that all teachers would start at the bottom of the pay scale even if they had prior teaching experience. However, she said, the district made exceptions without explanation.
"It resulted in younger teachers and male teachers being paid more," she said.
She said the district now has a policy to recognize up to five years of teaching experience outside the district and to apply it uniformly.
The size of the jury awards varied.
The largest award went to teacher Marcia Menzies, who was 47 when she was hired by the district in 1998. She had 12 years of experience, but was placed at the lowest pay level, according to the initial complaint. The jury awarded her $157,138 in back pay and $21,000 in compensatory damages.
Of those receiving awards, the smallest went to Barbara Zehnder, who was 54 when she was hired in 2004. She had four years of experience, but was placed at the lowest pay level, according to the lawsuit. Her award is $14,505 for back pay and $11,020 for compensatory damages.
Other teachers who won jury awards are Patricia DeFurio, Margaret Dennis, Anita Kornosky, J. Diane Newman, Carole Sarber, Deborah Swiech, Karen Wilding and Adele Winwood.
Because of the portion of the law involving their cases, two teachers, Nancy Stanich and Florence Stahurski, are not eligible to seek doubled awards and did not receive compensatory damages.
The teacher who was not awarded money is Jeennie Nickolls although the jury found in her favor on one claim.
Ms. Johnston previously represented three Elizabeth Forward teachers with similar allegations. Their award was upheld on appeal.
First Published April 10, 2008 12:57 am
