Administrator Sues Chappaqua District Alleging Racial Discrimination

CHAPPAQUA, NY — Michael Taylor, an assistant principal at Horace Greeley High School and the only black administrator in the Chappaqua School District, is suing the district for discrimination.

Taylor had filed a complaint in 2014 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about a hostile work environment in the wealthy, white district in the Westchester suburbs.

That, he alleges in the lawsuit, led to retaliation against him, including a smaller office and heavier workload and the run-around about small things such as time-off requests.

Taylor is suing the district plus Superintendent Lyn McKay and Horace Greeley High School Principal Robert Rhodes.

McKay is no longer running the district; she resigned in October effective Jan. 2 as parental calls for her ouster mounted when the district's high school sex abuse scandal morphed into a raging controversy over leadership. There have also been calls for Rhodes' resignation.

Speech and theater teacher Christopher Schraufnagel took a plea deal last month, admitting to having sexual contact with one student on the Greeley campus in 2011 and with another in the 2014-15 school year; and engaging in injurious non-sexual contact with a third student during the 2014-15 school year, according to Daily Voice reporter Tom Auchterlonie.

Asked about the Taylor suit, Acting Superintendent Eric Byrne told the Chappaqua Daily Voice that the district does not comment on ongoing litigation but would defend itself vigorously.

Taylor was hired as an assistant principal in 2004 and given tenure in 2007, according to the suit.

The episode that set this off happened in 2013. Taylor brought his 9-year-old daughter to work and left her in his office while he dealt with a personal matter in the Bronx. His suit alleges that employees often bring their children to work, and often send them to play in the gym or with friends, unattended; and that the district has no policy against it.

However, he was brought up on disciplinary charges. Non-minority employees who brought their children to the district and left them unattended were not admonished or disciplined, the suit alleges.

The suit alleges that the year before, in his evaluation, he had been praised for "overcoming" his "heritage" and acclimating to a new "culture."

After the disciplinary hearing, he said, the work environment got more hostile. Specifics include an increased workload that was so onerous an investigator for the district commented that he might quit under it; a reprimand for not hiring a substitute math teacher that Taylor says he had hired — and making him move out of his office to a smaller one which was not ready, so that his belongings were left in a hallway for three weeks.

In addition, the suit alleges, he was hassled about taking time off. Once he was refused time off though he had requested it within the required time frame. Another time, he requested a half-day of sick leave from Rhodes which was granted. He saw a doctor and then had surgery. However, later the district demanded a medical release allowing them to speak with his doctor and complained that he should have asked McKay for the leave.

Much of this was taking place around the time the issues with Schraufnagel were coming to a boil. Schraufnagel was placed on paid leave in June 2015 during an investigation into his interaction with students. He had taught speech and theater for 12 years at Horace Greeley High School. After that the lawsuits started — the district now faces suits from seven students describing a sordid culture in the drama department including wierd games with sexual overtones, inappropriate touching and alcohol and drug use.

Among the accusations against the district are that officials had been told.