CBSD teachers’ discrimination lawsuit continues after setback

[fusion_builder_container type=”flex” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” overlay_color=”” video_preview_image=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” padding_right=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” center_content=”no” last=”true” min_height=”” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_sizes_top=”” border_sizes_bottom=”” border_sizes_left=”” border_sizes_right=”” first=”true”][fusion_text]

In an ongoing lawsuit, more than 120 teachers used a simple calculation to accuse the Central Bucks School District of salary discrimination: The district, by their reckoning, paid men more than women — therefore, it must be sexism.

Two weeks ago, a federal judge of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania told the two lead plaintiffs their original logic was no bueno and they must get more specific. In accord with Judge Michael Baylson’s request, a lawyer for the two women submitted a comparison between those teachers’ pay and that of two male CBSD teachers.

Edward Mazurek, the Yardley-based lawyer representing English teachers Rebecca Cartee-Haring and Dawn Marinello, contrasted the two women’s annual salaries with those of social studies teachers John Donnelly and Malcolm Mosley. Mazurek insists the Doylestown-area district violated the federal Equal Pay Act by paying his clients less than those two men.

Initially, his filing argued Baylson’s request was undue because the petitioners did make specific comparisons in earlier court memoranda and suggested “all women teachers are similarly situated with one another.” Still, the plaintiffs’ attorney concluded his filing with a chart showing that Donnelly received $39,110 more than Cartee-Haring in 2010, the first year they worked at CBSD concurrently, and that he made $55,554 more than Marinello in 2016 when she was hired.

The difference between Mosley’s pay and that of each plaintiff was not as large but still substantial. According to the plaintiff’s memo, Mosley had fewer years of teaching experience than either Cartee-Haring or Marinello, though Donnelly taught for two more years than Cartee-Haring and six more years than Marinello. While educational attainment is another factor districts consider along with experience in determining teacher pay, the comparison did not discuss that subject.

Pay disparities between both men and both women dwindled somewhat over time. Yet Mazurek computed based on a formula used in discrimination caselaw that Cartee-Haring (who no longer teaches at CBSD) and Marinello respectively deserve $345,058.80 and $445,048 in back pay. He didn’t suggest they should get additional money, as Baylson forbade them to claim “punitive damages or pain and suffering.” (The relevant statute precludes it.)

Mazurek didn’t pretend he picked Mosley and Donnelly as comparators because their salaries were typical; he admitted selecting the men because they earned so much.

“…Once a plaintiff establishes that she was paid differently because of her sex with respect to a single male comparator — the most highly paid comparator she can find — she need go no further to establish her claim,” the attorney wrote. “In fact, it would be foolish for a plaintiff to base her claim on other lower paid comparators if she has to average the difference in the compensation using lower paid comparators.”

Cartee-Haring and Marinello wanted to include dozens of other women as co-plaintiffs, but they were denied class-action status last year and their first attempt to sue ended in a mistrial. According to CBSD lawyer Michael Levin, while the lead plaintiffs renewed their effort in January, it can no longer include any other complainants.

The school district has characterized the plaintiffs’ discrimination allegation as meritless since they filed suit nearly four years ago. Levin told Broad + Liberty the accusation hinged on cherry-picking certain examples even though a comprehensive examination of CBSD employee earnings shows no wrongdoing.

“There is no unlawful discrimination and… the plaintiffs were paid more than the average of comparators as the law takes into account,” he said.

In a court reply to Mazurek’s damage calculation, Levin averred Mazurek should have only compared the two women to other secondary school English teachers. The defender deemed it improper to pick examples from social studies faculty, adding that Cartee-Haring made more than the average of all CBSD social studies teachers’ pay. Marinello, meanwhile, out-earned more than both secondary school English teachers and social studies teachers.

Levin’s reply also contains a chart listing numerous other groups with salary averages bested by Cartee-Haring and Marinello, both of whom made over $51,000 the year they got hired. Male CBSD English teachers earned an average of $41,782; all male employees earned an average of just $40,683.

“[Their] wages were higher than the average of the wages of comparators,” Levin wrote. “Consequently, the Plaintiffs have no case.”

Mazurek did not respond to a request for comment.

Jamie Cohen Walker, a CBSD parent and former teacher who was active in local Republican election efforts two years ago, surmised that politics fueled the plaintiffs’ interest in litigating. Voters, she reasoned, might have been persuaded to flip a GOP-led school district alleged to have paid some teachers less because they were female. However much the lawsuit drove public discontent, the district did go Democratic — with Cartee-Haring’s husband Rick Haring getting elected on the new majority’s slate.

“I think that they used it to try to win school board seats in 2023,” Walker said. “And then they probably thought they were going to get a settlement when the Democrats won, considering one of them is her husband. It didn’t really work out that way.”

She furthermore suggested the uniquely populous and fairly affluent district entices litigious people to take it to court. With more than 18,000 students, CBSD is the third-largest school district in the Keystone State. In 2023, its spending exceeded that of any other Bucks County school district by at least $100 million.

“We have a huge budget — we have [nearly] a $400 million budget,” she said. “Everybody just wants a piece of it.”

Bradley Vasoli is a politics and government correspondent at Broad + Liberty.

[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]