Transgender Newark School Employee Alleges Discrimination

A transgender female employee in the Newark School District is claiming that discriminatory practices were behind her 2013 termination.

Christine Hamlett, a teacher and attendance office administrator with more than four decades of experience in the district, filed her complaint in U.S. District Court in February, NJ.com reported.

In the lawsuit, Hamlett claims that she was passed over for promotions and encountered discriminatory treatment due to her gender reassignment surgery in 1983.

In 2009, after applying to become executive director in the Office of Student Support Services, fingerprints turned up a record of decades-old convictions for shoplifting and marijuana possession, which prompted her reassignment to a “rubber room” position.

She was fired in 2013.

Attorneys for the district have moved to dismiss two of the suit’s three counts for wrongful discharge and breach of contract.

“Any claims of harassment and discrimination are taken seriously and investigated by the District’s affirmative action office,” Newark school officials told NJ.com.