Judge: Centennial has a ‘Custom of Discrimination’ Against Women

Former William Tennent High School assistant principal Johnna Ithier recently got the green light to sue the Centennial School District from U.S. District Court Judge Petrese B. Tucker, according to Phillyburbs.com.

Ithier, as well as seven other administrators (six of them women) had complained or supported complaints against former superintendent Thomas Turnbaugh ranging from discrimination and retaliation to sexual harassment, the story reports.

Turnbaugh abruptly resigned from the district in late 2010, after just a little more than a year of service, and the school board made Jennifer Cressman, Turnbaugh’s assistant, the new superintendent.

The suit claims that those who complained about Turnbaugh, faced retaliation under Cressman through demotion or dismissal.

In 2011, Donna Dunar, Willow Dale Elementary School principal and former director of elementary education for Centennial filed suit claiming she was “denied promotion, demoted and faced possible discharge” for reporting Turnbaugh’s alleged misconduct.

That filing came on the heels of another civil rights suit against the district brought by former Assistant Superintendent of Schools Sandy Homel. 

In this most recent suit, Ithier is pursuing her claims of racial discrimination and retaliation against the district.

In upholding the claim, the judge cited that the allegations were enough to suggest a "custom of discrimination" against women, and retaliation against those who complained about discrimination in the district, phillyburbs.com reports.