A San Francisco school board member is suing her colleagues and the San Francisco Unified School District, alleging a violation of her civil rights in the fallout from a series of unearthed tweets she sent in 2016.
Alison Collins was stripped of her title as vice president of the San Francisco Board of Education and taken off her committee assignments in a 5-2 no-confidence vote last week after days of outrage and criticism over the controversial Twitter thread, in which she uses racially-charged language to describe Asian Americans.
Collins defended her tweets, claiming they were "taken out of context."
In a legal filing obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, the lawsuit seeks $12 million in damages from the district and board members together. It also asks for $3 million in punitive damages from the five board members who voted in favor of removing her as vice president.
Collins and Board President Gabriela Lopez voted against the resolution.
A collection of city and state-level officials, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, had called for Collins to step down after the tweets become public. Collins did apologize but resisted overtures to resign.
"I’d like to reemphasize my sincere and heartfelt apologies," Collins, who is Black, said during a contentious meeting last Tuesday. "I’m currently engaging with my colleagues and working with community for the good of all children in our district and especially Black children often left behind."
The thread in question, created in December 2016, used offensive racial stereotypes, accusing Asian Americans of using "white supremacist thinking" and believing "they benefit from the ‘model minority’ BS," among other controversial statements. It was found and released by a group targeting Collins and several members of the San Francisco Board of Education for recall over unrelated past decisions.
Collins didn’t comment for the paper’s story.
There is a rally in support of Collins planned at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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