A Georgia mother is suing her employer for racial discrimination and alleging that she was demoted for standing up for her 14-year-old son who posted a racist video.
Cheryl Nahmias, who is white, worked at Decatur High School as an Instructional Coach and International Baccalaureate coordinator, but claims she was demoted and reassigned to the school district’s central office for both sticking up for her son and for her years of whistleblowing.
Last year, Nahmias’ son posted a video showing him holding a gun and saying “I use this to kill n******… bab bap bap.”
DaVena Jordan, a Black parent at the school, filed the initial police complaint against Nahimas’ son over the video. She tells Decaturish.com it’s “foolish” for Nahimas to bring this up again. Jordan was content to have the case over and says she’s at peace with the fact that the teen didn’t face legal consequences.
“It’ll be a scar on her and him for the rest of their lives You don’t fight back when you’re wrong. You don’t. You just don’t. It’s going to hurt a lot of people in the wake of it, continuing to trample over people who have been trampled over enough. We all want some peace,” Jordan tells Decaturish.
“We believe the City Schools of Decatur has violated Dr. Nahmias’ civil, constitutional, and educational privacy rights. We intend to prove that [Superintendent David] Dude and his administration have created a work environment that is hostile to legally protected speech and whistleblowers. We believe the evidence will show that the school district engaged in a costly, non-transparent investigation that ultimately did not yield any credible evidence of wrongdoing, as a means of intimidation and retaliation. We intend to hold CSD and its administrators accountable for this egregious conduct,” the Nahmias’ told Decaturish through their attorney.
Anita Bala, one of Nahmias’ attornies says she understands the community will likely be angered by her client’s filing, but, she says, “She’s still a person. She’s still an employee. She still has rights.”
According to reporting by Decaturish, the teen was suspended for a year and the case was closed. However, the Nahmias’ appealed the teen’s suspensioin and the state Board of Education reversed the punishment, saying there was no evidence that his conduct could be charged as a felony.