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| Principal Marie Lemmon greets students on the first day of school at the new Bailey's Upper Elementary School. |
The complaints about Bailey’s Elementary School Principal Marie Lemmon outlined in a lawsuit charging her with discrimination and harassment are similar to the experiences of other current and former employees.
“I can’t attest to the facts in the lawsuit, but it follows a pattern that many people experienced,” a former Bailey’s employee told the Annandale Blog. Bailey’s is the largest elementary school in Fairfax County and is the only school where a single principal presides over two separate school buildings.
Most of the 31-page lawsuit deals with the experiences of Rachel Charlton, a former assistant principal at Bailey’s. Charlton says Lemmon urged the assistant principals to only hire “pretty young blondes” who did not have families and referred to teachers that didn’t fit into that category as the “geek squad.”
Charlton’s problems with Lemmon started in 2012 when she became pregnant with her first child. The suit alleges that Lemmon told Charlton to wait until she became a principal before having children. Following her pregnancy announcement, Lemmon began excluding Charlton from critical meetings with the two other assistant principals, who are single and without children.
During Charlton’s difficult pregnancy, the suit says, “Lemmon berated Rachel in front of another teacher for eating a small piece of cheese.” When Charlton returned from maternity leave, she learned most of her responsibilities were transferred to the other assistant principals, and Lemmon refused to give her a recommendation despite a strong professional record.
After Charleton filed a complaint with the FCPS Department of Human Resources, she alleges Lemmon retaliated by not informing her about important meetings and continuing the harassment.
The lawsuit says “Lemmon was often discriminatory towards students and teachers who identified with any religion other than Christianity.” For example, a staff outing was scheduled on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, and Lemmon criticized a parent who had concerns about pork being served in the cafeteria.
Another defendant, Yolanda Calhoun, an African American with a doctorate degree in education, charges Lemmon with racial discrimination. According to the suit, Lemmon told Calhoun her position as a Title I math resource teacher was being eliminated, then replaced her with a young, blue-eyed blond Caucasian woman who was significantly less qualified.
The other defendants are J.C. Calhoun, a former student at Bailey’s, and Shyrone Stith, a former instructional assistant and teacher.
J.C., Yolanda Calhoun’s stepchild, had been accepted into Bailey’s magnet program. But after Yolanda was forced out, the suit says Lemmon “intentionally and in bad faith removed J.C.’s magnet application from her student file in order to justify removing J.C. from the school.” Meanwhile, two other teachers who had left Bailey’s were allowed to keep their Caucasian children in the magnet program.
According to the lawsuit, Lemmon “repeatedly discriminated against children of color,” and imposed more severe disciplinary measures on them.
Stith, an African American who worked at Bailey’s as an instructional assistant, claims he wasturned down for a promotion in favor of a less-qualified, young blond woman.
Commenters on the Annandale Blog and other online forums, including DC Urban Moms and Dads, have made similar complaints about Lemmon during her previous tenure as principal of Mount Vernon Woods Elementary School, as well as at Bailey’s.
Teachers at Mt. Vernon Woods “couldn’t believe how lucky they were when they heard she was leaving,” said a former employee, who noted that about 30 employees left Bailey’s during 2012-13, Lemmon’s first year at the school.
According to the former employee, “she ran the school like a dictator,” and staff members at Bailey’s felt too intimidated to speak up and question anything for fear of retaliation.
Some of the other complaints cited by the former employee: Lemmon eliminated all part-time positions so employees either had to work full time or quit. She challenged people who applied for medical leave. She scrapped a successful Spanish literacy program by claiming she couldn’t find a qualified instructor, when in fact, there were lots of good candidates.