A Gwinnett County Public Schools administrator accused the district of discriminating against her, resulting in a demotion, according to a lawsuit filed in March in federal district court.
Jennifer Fero has been a district employee since 2008, working as an assistant principal and a Community School director. In July 2022, she was put in charge of the overall Community Schools initiative, which seeks to extend education and recreation opportunities from schools into their surrounding community.
In March 2023, she was demoted back to the school level, court documents state. Fero is suing to be reinstated to her old job and receive back pay, including pension contributions, benefits and other fees.
The suit names the district, Board of Education and Eric Thigpen, executive director of the Department of Academic Support and Fero’s supervisor in the district-level job, as defendants.
Fero is from South Korea, and she says she was the first Asian American woman to hold her position and the only Asian American woman in a district-level leadership role.
She alleges that Thigpen was biased against her, court documents state. Fero says she was not supported in her job or introduced to her subordinates. She says the expectations of her were unclear and communication was insufficient.
In a meeting with Thigpen and Chief of Schools Al Taylor to address those issues, Fero relayed that she felt there were implicit biases against her, adding that she did not want to have to resolve the issue with the district’s Office of Civil Rights, court documents state.
After the meeting, Fero was notified of complaints by her staff, and she was placed on leave and later informed that she was demoted. She believes these actions were retaliation because her mention of the Office of Civil Rights was considered a threat, court documents state.
Gwinnett County Public Schools declined to comment on the suit because it is an ongoing legal matter. Fero’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.
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