A lesbian teacher in Maine has come to a settlement with her former school district regarding allegations of ongoing harassment and severe retaliation by her manager.
According to a civil complaint submitted by the teacher in U.S. District Court in Portland last year, her supervisor once stated that anyone who interfered with her would face consequences.
In the lawsuit, special education teacher Michele Figueira claimed that she experienced a hostile work environment and discrimination from the York School District in Maine due to her being a lesbian. Figueira worked for the district from 2018 to 2021, when the school chose not to renew her contract. The details of the agreement were not disclosed.
“During her employment with YSD, Figueira was subjected to a series of degrading and humiliating remarks about her sexuality (and about the sexuality of other teachers and parents) from her direct supervisor, Joelle Coleman,” according to the lawsuit filed in July, 2023.
Figueira claimed that Coleman inquired about the roles in her relationship with her wife, speculated openly multiple times about which of their colleagues were gay, and asked about Figueira’s “gaydar.”
Figueira stated that Coleman suggested she wear rainbow clothing for a meeting with the gay parents of a student and implied with a limp wrist that they were “needy” and “flaming.”
The plaintiff “repeatedly told Ms. Coleman to stop and explained to her why her comments were offensive and derogatory, but she continued,” the lawsuit claimed.
The lawsuit also described the actions of a middle school teacher, Carla Gill, who was friendly with Coleman, and like Figueira, a lesbian.
It was “like a Gay and Lesbian University at the high school,” Figueira claimed Gill once told her. “Where did they get so many gay and lesbian teachers?”
On one occasion, when Gill and Figueira passed a fellow female teacher, Figueira alleges Gill told her, “There’s another one.” When Figueira told her the teacher was married with two children, she says Gill responded, “Oh no, she just hasn’t realized it yet or admitted it,” referring to being gay.
Despite Coleman receiving a written warning for “inappropriate behavior,” and her own admission to Figueira that she had “f*cked up” on several occasions, the school district found Coleman “did not violate the York School Department’s harassment and discrimination policies.”
Superintendent Timothy Doak of the York School District said in an email to the Portland Press Herald on Monday that “the parties reached a settlement agreement to their mutual satisfaction and will not provide further comment.”
