Jul 21, 2016 2 min read

A Monessen woman who was turned down when she applied for two teaching jobs in 2014 is accusing city schools of discrimination and alleging the district retaliated against her for raising concerns about age and race disparities in the district.

Rotina Johnson, 52, alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh that Monessen City School District officials violated federal and state anti-discrimination laws and illegally retaliated against her for reporting to federal authorities what she believed were discriminatory or retaliatory practices in the district.

Pittsburgh attorney Lawrence Chaban, who represents Johnson, wrote his client worked as a substitute teacher in the district and holds elementary teaching certificates, but was unsuccessful when seeking a job as a full-time teacher.

“(Johnson) lives in the school district and believed that the school district needed African-American teachers given the lack of them in the district and the large percentage of African-American students attending school in the district,” he wrote.

In June 2014, she applied for open slots in the district for a special education elementary teacher and sixth-grade teacher.

Officials interviewed her for the special education position the following month but later told her she wouldn’t be hired. Johnson alleges the candidates who got the jobs instead were less qualified, younger and white.

Johnson filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and another with the state Human Relations Commission alleging age and race discrimination and retaliation, according to the lawsuit. The federal commission dismissed the charge May 5, giving her 90 days to sue.

Superintendent Leanne Spazak said in an email the district hasn’t been formally notified of the lawsuit and said she couldn’t comment on specific allegations. She added, “I can say that I am confident that the district will prevail again as it did before the administrative agency charged with investigating complaints of discrimination.”

The lawsuit states Johnson previously filed three complaints against the district in 2010 and 2013 with the EEOC. One of the claims was settled, and two others were dismissed.

In the lawsuit, Johnson asks the court to assign her to the position she says she would occupy “if not for the discriminatory practices of (the district).” She also seeks back earnings and benefits, plus damages.