Two more discrimination charges were filed against RPSB in December

RAPIDES PARISH, La. (KALB) - Two new discrimination charges were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in December against the Rapides Parish School Board.

The charging parties are two employees at Glenmora Elementary School who claim they were subjected to discrimination and retaliation by their principal, Carrol Babb (Glenmora High School). The first charging party claims they were subjected to retaliation because they complained about reasonable accommodations not being met for students with disabilities. The party also claims they were discriminated against because they were relieved of a coaching position after revealing they themself suffered from a disability.

The other charging party claims they were subjected to discriminatory behavior after also being removed from a coaching position and because their grievance was not responded to in five working days after being filed, in accordance with the RPSB policy handbook.

The charges were filed on behalf of the parties by Equal Employment Opportunity Advocate Norris Guillot Jr’s office, who provided this statement:

“Rapides Parish School Board has an opportunity to correct these matters sooner than later. RPSB has repeatedly ignored several discriminatory complaints filed by multiple employees most recently, however, RPSB can no longer ignore these allegations filed with the EEOC. As a qualified employer under both State and Federal Anti-Discrimination laws, a response to these allegations is warranted. We have requested that the EEOC place these allegations as high priority for immediate intervention and future prevention. In addition, we are filing a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights Division in Washington D.C.”

RPSB also provided a statement:

“We have been made aware of the recent pending EEOC complaints.

Unfortunately, because this is rooted in a personnel issue and may give cause for investigation, we are not able to comment publicly on this situation.

However, we do want Rapides Parish to always have faith that when an employee grievance/complaint is filed, our intent is to always follow RPSB policy as well as state and federal laws. These potential cases will be no exception. Let’s continue to show the world that Rapides Parish is truly #bettertogether.”

Guillot Jr. has filed 14 charges with the EEOC against RPSB since December of 2021, seven were resolved through mediation and seven are under investigation.

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