Drama Teacher's Discrimination Suit Falls 'Woefully Short,' District 65 Says In New Filing

EVANSTON, IL — Attorneys for Evanston/Skokie School District 65 on Monday filed a motion to dismiss the federal civil rights lawsuit brought by a longtime drama teacher who says she suffered discrimination and "racial harassment" because she is white.

The filing cited comments from the teacher's own attorney, who, in a television interview, appeared to admit that her client had not suffered discrimination.

Stacy Deemar, a part-time drama teacher in the district since 2002, filed a complaint against the District 65 school board, its superintendent and two other administrators in June. She asked a judge to declare that the district violated her rights under the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, as well as for attorneys' fees and $1 in damages.

In her complaint, the drama teacher failed to allege that she was harmed in any way by the district's race-conscious curriculum, failed to state an actionable civil rights claim and failed to allege that she suffered any adverse action or a hostile work environment, according to a memorandum in support of District 65's motion.

"Her Complaint is long on politically charged rhetoric regarding the supposed divisiveness of 'anti-racism,' 'social justice,' 'Black Lives Matter,' and 'critical race theory,' but falls woefully short of establishing that she has personally suffered an injury that entitles her to relief in federal court, or that would otherwise justify this court’s intervention in curriculum decisions best left to the discretion of educators," said Nicki Bazer, an attorney from the firm Franczek representing the district.

"Deemar also cannot state an actionable race discrimination claim under Title VI or the Equal Protection Clause because she has not been subjected to any adverse discriminatory action or subjected to an actionable hostile work environment," Bazer said.

According to a declaration from Stacy Beardsley, the district's assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, Deemar never attended any of the sessions she complained about, other than a two-day seminar called "Beyond Diversity" that was required prior to 2019. As a part-time teacher, Deemar also did not usually attend staff meetings, and none of the district's federal funding is "in any way related to Deemar's position," Beardsley declared.

To make a discrimination claim, according to Bazer's memo, plaintiffs must establish that there's a policy that creates some barrier that causes an injury or makes it harder for members of a group to obtain a benefit.

"Deemar’s Complaint fails to meet this standard. She merely alleges that contents of the District’s training and curriculum 'concerned' her and that the District’s equity based activities treated her 'differently' from her colleagues based on race," Bazer said. "Deemar, however, fails to allege or identify how this 'different' treatment has caused her actionable harm, or how she personally was 'treated differently,' based on race given that all teachers regardless of race presumably were aware of or exposed to the training and curriculum at some level. Without an alleged harm, her allegations, which merely suggest the possibility of racial classifications, are insufficient to establish standing."

Related:
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Deemar, 49, of Wilmette, previously filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights alleging that she was discriminated against because of changes made to a 2nd grade play and a lack of discipline against students who she says assaulted her.

The nature of any modifications to a March 2019 King Arts production of the play "Giants in the Sky" made by administrators and any assaults Deemar claimed to have suffered at the hands of King Arts students could not yet be determined based on available public records.

In December 2020, the office prepared a draft letter of finding that there was insufficient evidence that anyone had retaliated against her, but that the district's race-based "affinity groups" and "privilege walks" did violate Title VI.

That case was suspended in January after President Joe Biden revoked an executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion training that had been issued a few months earlier by former President Donald Trump.

"In light of the District’s objections, dated January 13, 2021, to OCR’s draft letter of findings and the Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, signed by President Biden on January 20, 2021, OCR has suspended negotiations in this case," Carol Ashley, the office's enforcement director, notified the district on Jan. 22.

Records show Deemar's attorneys did not contact the district prior to filing the lawsuit. District representatives said administrators faced racist voicemails and a smashed car window in what appeared to be incidents of vandalism amid "the polarizing media coverage of the lawsuit and its characterization of our District."

More than a hundred of Evanston residents, including Mayor Daniel Biss, gathered July 20 at a rally in James Park to denounce Deemar's suit and praise the district's equity curriculum.

Sarah Bogan, one of the speakers at the rally, described Deemar as the perfect example of the danger of not educating white people.

"Not only did Stacy Deemar put a target on Evanston's back, she put a target on her students, her fellow staff members and her community as a whole," Bogan said. "But we cannot be mislead to believe this is just one ignorant community member. She speaks for many — outside of our community and within."

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This week's court filing from the district cites comments made by Deemar's attorney during an interview on WFLD-TV shortly after the complaint was filed.

Kim Hermann is general counsel at the Georgia-based Southeastern Legal Foundation, a conservative legal nonprofit. In the first question of the interview, she was asked how Deemar believed she was discriminated against.

"Yeah, well the lawsuit actually is not so much about discriminating against Ms. Deemar," Hermann responded.

Hermann, who describes herself as a member of the "freedom based law movement," did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment about the interview and questions about students' alleged assaults of Deemar and what injury, if any, the teacher suffered.

"This is not about her," Hermann later added, during the interview with Chicago's Fox affiliate cited by the district. "This is about the district and how it is segregating students and how it is treating them differently because of their race."

And according to District 65's attorney, Deemar has no standing to file suit on behalf of students.

"Even if Deemar could establish she personally suffered an injury in fact," Bazer said, "her claims should still be dismissed for lack of standing to the extent she is attempting to challenge the impact of the District’s curriculum on students."

Deemar also failed to allege that she suffered a hostile work environment or any adverse action, according to Bazer. For such a claim to succeed in court, a reasonable person would have to find the workplace hostile and abusive when considering all the circumstances.

"Deemar’s alleged 'concern' and allegation that she was treated 'differently' fall woefully short of establishing that she was subject to a work environment that she subjectively perceived as 'intolerable' or 'abusive,'" Bazer said in the memo.

"Deemar’s Complaint is replete with politically charged criticism of the District’s equity initiatives, but these objections either as a political matter or as a matter of educational curriculum, fail to permit a finding that she was subjected to an objectively hostile and abusive working environment," she said. "Accordingly, her claims should be dismissed, with prejudice."