Fired Mount Olive teachers sue, claim age bias

Two former Mount Olive School District female physical education teachers, who were fired in 2013 for allegedly using slurs in reference to  African-American students, have filed a lawsuit that claims they were ousted because of their ages and years of experience.

Brigitte Geiger and Sharon Jones cited the state's Law Against Discrimination  and breach of contract in a lawsuit against the district, filed by attorney Daniel G.P. Marchese and made public Thursday in state  Superior Court, Morristown.

The teachers were terminated on Oct. 8, 2013, after the state education commissioner upheld the decision of an administrative law judge that the teachers had engaged in unbecoming conduct by using racially derogatory language against African Americans in a school locker room on March 2, 2012.  The conversation was overheard and reported by two female students.

Geiger worked for the district about 28 years in the physical education department and was head field hockey coach.  Jones was employed as a physical education instructor for about 30 years.

District Superintendent Larrie Reynolds said Thursday that the two teachers were given an opportunity to explain the overheard conversation in 2012 but declined.  Tenure charges were filed, and the case went before an administrative law judge, who heard testimony and arguments over nine days and issued a ruling in favor of the district in 2013.

The judge concluded, in part, that the teachers compromised "confidence in the educational environment" and should have known, as experienced teachers, that the remarks "fell below acceptable standards of conduct" for teachers.

The state education commissioner reviewed the ruling and in October 2013 found that the teachers were "unfit to discharge the duties" of instructing children. The commissioner's decision, the authority for the firings, noted that the administrative law judge found that Geiger's demeanor during parts of her testimony "revealed evidence of disdain and contempt for a group of African-American students."

The judge also had found that Jones "emotionally testified about her frustration with several African-American students," according to the decision.

Reynolds, the superintendent, said the firings had nothing to do with the teacher's ages or years in the district and that Mount Olive has multiple teachers with 40 or more years of experience. The ages of the two former teachers were not contained in the lawsuit, and their attorney was not available for comment.

"The reason they are gone is because two children in our district were upset that teachers in our high school were disparaging students because of their skin color," Reynolds said.

The superintendent said he believes the two teachers received a fair opportunity to present their positions, but the administrative law judge -- upheld by the commissioner -- believed the students over the teachers.

The lawsuit contends that the teachers were falsely accused of uttering a racial slur in front of a student and were terminated as a direct result of the accusation.  After their firings, the district hired two younger women as replacements, the lawsuit said.

"Geiger and Jones believe the false accusations of the racial slurs to be merely pretext for the true, discriminatory reasons for termination.  Geiger and Jones believe the district's termination to be the final act in a history of discrimination against the district's older and more heavily tenured employees," the lawsuit said.

The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages from the district.

   Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.