Philadelphia Teacher Sues Prep School For Racial Discrimination

By Kevin Webb | Published on January 7, 2013 | Updated on January 22, 2013 9:52 PM EST

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A black Philadelphia prep school teacher filed a racial discrimination lawsuit challenging the school’s decision to fire him last year based on allegedly inappropriate texts sent to a female student. Arthur “Chuck” Matthews claims that though the student and her parents did not deem the messages offensive, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy chose to terminate him based on his race. Furthermore, Matthews identified his firing as part of a pattern of continued discrimination against African-Americans at the school where he worked for 14 years.

“Historically, black employees, regardless of their position, have been denied promotions and are subject to harsher discipline, unfair demotion, and unjust termination in circumstances where non-black staff are, or have been, treated more favorably,” the lawsuit said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The lawsuit against Springside Chestnut Hill was filed last month in U.S. District Court and the school will have until Jan.14 to respond. A school spokesman told the Inquirer that there would be no comment on pending litigation. Matthews served as an upper level math teacher and assistant softball coach at the school, which enrolls students from prekindergarten to high school.

Principal Priscilla Sands suspended Matthews for his text messages in August 2012, and sent a letter to the student’s parents acknowledging that the texts were not sexual in nature, but still personal. In his suit, Matthews claims that rumors of his suspension spread through the school, and that he was defamed by remarks suggesting that he had “engaged in an immoral personal relationship,” with the young woman who graduated in June.

Up until the August suspension, Matthews allegedly had a spotless record. He insists that the school policy does not prohibit teachers from texting students. Up until 2010, Chestnut Hill Academy had been an all-male school until it merged with neighboring the Springside School. The school still practices single-sex education through elementary and middle school.

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