In a further blow to DEI across the country, three white former executives at the New York City Department of Education will soon receive higher pay after allegedly being demoted in favor of “less qualified” employees of “people of color.” become.of new york post report.
As Blaze News previously reported, five years ago Royce Herrera, Jay Murray and Laura Feijot filed a lawsuit alleging the city’s DOE discriminated against them on the basis of race. The lawsuit originally sought $90 million in damages.
Herrera, a Harvard University graduate who worked for decades in the Office of Safety and Youth Development before becoming the agency’s executive director, was demoted in favor of Mark Lampersant, a black man with a GED. Murray, a former executive director of the Office of Counseling and Support Programs, was demoted three ranks and at one point had to report directly to Lampersant. Finally, Mr. Feijou, a former senior superintendent, appears. All other DOE supervisors She was handed the position of deputy prime minister by her black subordinate Cheryl Watson Harris, who did not even have the necessary license for the position at the time she was hired.
These personnel changes were made by Richard, a former school superintendent who worked for former Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio and was “obsessed with diversity,” according to an internal DOE email written by then-Chief Operating Officer Ursulina Ramirez. This was done under Carranza’s leadership.
The complaint alleges that Carranza threatened the jobs of “white DOE employees” who dared question his “equity platform.” “Get on…or get out,” he is said to have warned them.
Carranza and de Blasio admitted in sworn testimony related to the lawsuit that they wanted to create a DOE “similar to New York City,” the newspaper said. Mr. Carranza resigned in February 2021, and Mr. de Blasio was term-limited in December of the following year.
Three months ago, a judge ruled that the lawsuit showed “evidence of race-based discrimination at Carranza’s DOE,” and a trial was scheduled for June.
The city chose to reach a settlement with the plaintiffs rather than proceed with trial. Mr. Herrera, Mr. Murray and Mr. Feijot will each receive $700,000.
Attorney Davida Perry said the settlement is “a strong statement that any form of discrimination should not be tolerated in educational institutions, regardless of the race of those affected.” She also claimed that her client “feels vindicated and vindicated.”
The city must pay more than $2 million to settle the case with the three white women, but it still has not admitted wrongdoing. “The DOE and the City are committed to fair and inclusive employment practices and maintain that these allegations are without merit,” a Department of Justice spokesperson said. “Nonetheless, the settlement of this long-running litigation was in the best interest of all parties.” ”
Herrera has since retired, and Feijoo took another job three and a half years ago. Murray is the only plaintiff remaining on the New York City Department of Energy’s payroll, but her duties have been “significantly reduced,” the newspaper reported.
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