Tulare City School District discrimination settlement still being monitored

Tulare City School District (TCSD) settled a national origin discrimination charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in late June.

The process is still continuing.

“Presently, we’re still monitoring compliance, but outside of that I can’t comment further,” said Armando Hernandez, director of the EEOC’s Fresno office, who is limited on what information he can share.

The settlement included the district agreeing to pay $45,000 to the employee who filed the charge. He applied unsuccessfully for a promotion to principal and later claimed that the district’s decision was based on his Hispanic national origin.

Although the district did not admit any liability, it accepted the EEOC’s decision. The district agreed to train its supervisors and managers about Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (which includes pregnancy), gender identification, age, disability, genetic information, or retaliation.

“We respect the EEOC and we will follow their directions but we don’t necessarily agree that we did anything wrong,” said Philip Pierschbacher, assistant superintendent, personnel. “Whenever you have any type of interview situation, and that’s what it was centered around, there could be differences of opinion. The candidate in question did not get the position, and felt they should have. There was a disagreement over that.

“We did everything by the book,” he added. “We did everything respectfully. It was above reproach. But there was a disagreement and, in this case, the EEOC agreed after investigations with the person who filed the complaint. We’re going to live with that.”

The unsuccessful candidate quit his position with the district more than two years before filing a complaint, Pierschbacher said.

“The person is no longer in the school district,” Pierschbacher added.

The process of filing for discrimination

Individuals have the right to file a complaint of discrimination with our agency, Hernandez said.

“If someone insists on filing a charge, we will not persuade them against it," he said. "If somebody wants to file a charge, they have every right to do that. We will take that charge and we will file it, serve it, and then we will investigate it."

The EEOC’s investigation procedure “varies” depending on the allegations, according to Hernandez.

“We look into the merits of the claim,” he said. “First, the employers are provided notice that a claim has been made and they are given the opportunity to provide their side of the story.”

The EEOC then gathers facts to determine whether the claim has merit or not.

“The EEOC investigated the allegations and found reasonable cause to believe that in this case, the employer had violated Title VII,” Hernandez said.

“When we did that, we entered into a conciliation/negotiation with the district and the district was very amenable to addressing the concerns, and they were very open,” he said. “The EEOC always commends their willingness to address the issues and put steps in place that we believe can eliminate issues like that in the future, which is ultimately the goal.

Those steps “can be measures to provide training so that parties are aware of what is appropriate and what is inappropriate in the workplace, and it can be revising or updating policies to reflect a stronger stance or a clearer understanding of what a procedure should be,” said Hernandez.

The EEOC suggested that the district use a rubric, a guide listing specific criteria for assessing a candidate. Interviewers using a rubric evaluate whether a candidate answers questions completely, dresses professionally, maintains eye contact, and provides examples in their responses.

The district listening to EEOC's advice and deciding which of the suggestions would work best, Pierschbacher said.

“Some interviewers grade harder than others,” he said. “Some grade easier. A rubric is a way to be more consistent. We’re looking at what we have currently and if their advice could make it even better.”

The district has not had any discrimination findings for at least 15 years, Pierschbacher added.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on following the rules, having a great place to work,” he said. “We’re a very diverse district in terms of our students and we’re a very diverse district regarding our staffing as well.”

“We take pride that we’re actually a district that is a great representative on how to do things,” he added. “Other districts call us for advice. They call us for recommendations, but if an entity like the EEOC feels we didn’t hit the mark on that one, then we’re humble enough to look at what we’re doing and try and improve.”