Tacoma teacher claimed discrimination. The district settled for $3K, denied wrongdoing

Tacoma Public Schools has paid $3,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed by a veteran teacher who alleged she was passed over for a job because of her age, race and sex, the district said.

Betty Williams, who is Black and over 70, sued TPS in May 2023 . Williams alleged that she was picked for reassignment from Truman Middle School over four white colleagues, lost out on an unadvertised teaching position to a less-qualified white man and was retaliated against for reporting the purported discrimination to district officials.

The lawsuit, which named TPS, the district’s human resources director and Truman’s principal, was resolved on Aug. 6, Pierce County Superior Court records show.

Tanisha Jumper, a district spokesperson, said in a statement that the case had been dismissed as it related to the human resources director and principal in their individual capacities. TPS settled.

“Without admission of fault or wrongdoing, the District offered a nominal settlement in exchange for a full release of Plaintiff’s claims,” Jumper said, adding that $3,000 was the amount paid.

Attorney Beverly Grant, who represented Williams in the lawsuit, said in a brief interview that she couldn’t immediately discuss the case’s resolution nor could she disclose why.

Williams, who primarily taught middle school social studies during 25-plus years with TPS, accepted an offer to teach at the district’s virtual school, Tacoma Online, prior to the 2020-21 school year. She was unaware that she’d lose her seniority at Truman and soon after was notified that she was being displaced, according to the lawsuit.

Around the time that Williams was notified that she’d be transferred to a different middle school, she learned of an AP Human Geography teaching position at Truman that ultimately was given to a colleague in his 40s. He also had been under consideration for reassignment and possessed less teaching experience and education, the suit said.

The lawsuit claimed that Williams’ colleague attended a one-week training to teach the class and that she had not been offered that training opportunity. It also alleged that TPS asserted that she needed a particular credential to teach the course that didn’t exist and that, after she complained about the purported discriminatory treatment, she was no longer allowed to work overtime on after-school programs, among other retaliation.