‘Witchcraft’ Threats Hurled At NJ Teacher Who Complained Of Mold In Classroom: Lawsuit

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — A former Passaic County preschool teacher is claiming she was discriminated against and threatened by supervisors when she expressed health concerns in her classroom, according to a recently filed lawsuit.

In 2022, Betzahy Gonzalez, of Paterson, began working for HeadStart Preschool ran by Greater Bergen Community Action, a nonprofit that provides support, including early education, to low-income families.

It was in October and November of 2023 when Gonzalez noticed a “foul odor” emanating from her classroom, according to the suit. When she took the concern to her supervisor, Nancy Serrano, her complaints were brushed off, and nothing came of them, court papers say.

About a month later, after heavy rain flooded the area around the school in Paterson, Gonzalez’s classroom developed a “horrendous odor and felt extremely humid and damp,” according to the suit.

When she complained a second time about the classroom’s condition, she mentioned a concern about mold in the classroom. Again, her complaints were ignored by Serrano and other supervisors, the suit says.

Months of attempting to raise concern on the potential mold issues went by, until Serrano “begrudgingly” instructed maintenance to clean the room with bleach in March, the suit says. Despite the toxic cleaning supplies being used in the classroom, Gonzalez’s requests to move her students to a temporary learning environment were dismissed, court papers say.

By this time, Serrano told Gonzalez that other teachers “did not care for her,” and that she was sarcastically labeled “Ms. Know-It-All” and “Master Teacher,” the suit says. Gonzalez asked her supervisor to look into the disparaging comments in the workplace, but there were no repercussions, according to the suit.

Zuri Orozco, another teacher at the preschool, told Gonzalez that Serrano also took part in the name-calling and that she threatened to “use witchcraft to stop Ms. Gonzalez from making complaints about mold in the classroom,” according to the suit.

Soon after, Gonzalez’s mental and physical health began deteriorating, and both a therapist and a physician instructed her to take disability work leave, the suit says.

After having to prove twice to her superiors that a doctor’s note instructing a one-month disability leave was real, Gonzalez went on leave in March and returned mid-April.

When she returned, Gonzalez’s class was relocated due to mold being discovered in her original classroom, as she suspected, the suit says. The complaint adds that the mold caused students and teachers to have “coughing fits” and resulted in several student absences.

She went through a series of performance evaluations over the summer, which resulted in “retaliatory” and “discriminatory” criticisms, the suit says. One supervisor, Sylvia Wichi, conceded that the criticisms were “solely due to Ms. Gonzalez being out of work for the disability/FMLA leave,” court records say.

Gonzalez’s performance evaluations had ratings of ‘Consistently Meets’ or ‘Excellent’ in all except one category, which said she was “inconsistent in working relationship(s) with some members of staff.”

She learned she was fired two days after the end of the school year.

“The true reason for the termination was due to the fact that Ms. Gonzalez engaged in whistleblowing activity and went on a disability/FMLA leave of absence and complained of discrimination and retaliation,” the suit says.

Gonzalez’s complaint cites several counts, including disability discrimination and retaliation. She is seeking $1.5 million in damages, as well as attorney fees and lawsuit costs.

Patch has reached out to Greater Bergen Community Action, of which representatives were not immediately available for comment.