Paupaw-Myrie v. Mount Vernon City Sch. Dist.

653 F.Supp.3d 80

Alexis PAUPAW-MYRIE, Plaintiff, v. MOUNT VERNON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT and Natasha Hunter-McGregor, Defendants.

No. 21-CV-11237 (CS)

United States District Court, S.D. New York

Signed January 30, 2023

Alexis Paupaw-Myrie, Bronx, New York, Pro Se Plaintiff.

Cheryl Monticciolo, Ingerman Smith, L.L.P., Hauppauge, New York, Counsel for Defendants.

OPINION & ORDER

Seibel, United States District Judge

Before the Court is the motion to dismiss of Defendants Mount Vernon City School District (the "District") and Natasha Hunter-McGregor. (ECF No. 21.) For the following reasons, the motion is GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

I accept as true the facts, but not the conclusions, set forth in Plaintiff's Amended Complaint, (ECF No. 18 ("AC")), Initial Complaint, (ECF No. 2 ("IC")), and memorandum of law, (ECF No. 25 ("P's Opp.")). See Washington v. Westchester Cnty. Dep't of Corr., No. 13-CV-5322, 2015 WL 408941, at *1 n.1 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 30, 2015) (court may give pro se plaintiff the benefit of considering facts in original complaint even if they have not been repeated in amended complaint); Braxton v. Nichols, No. 08-CV-8568, 2010 WL 1010001, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 18, 2010) ("[A]llegations made in a pro se plaintiff's memorandum of law, where they are consistent with those in the complaint, may also be considered on a motion to dismiss.").¹

A. Factual Background

Plaintiff is a Black woman and of Native American origin. (AC ¶ 3.) She was employed by the District as a social studies teacher from September 2016 to June 30, 2021. (Id. ¶ 1.) She began in 2016 as a full-time substitute teacher at the Graham School, where Defendant Dr. Natasha Hunter-McGregor, who is not Native American, was the principal. (Id. ¶ 2.) Plaintiff apparently thereafter was hired as a probationary teacher and received "satisfactory" or "effective" ratings every year. (Id. ¶ 5.)

In or about February 2020, Dr. Hunter-McGregor made a comment about the texture of Plaintiff's hair - specifically, she told Plaintiff "to grow out [Plaintiff's] relaxer and insinuated [Plaintiff's] hair should be more coarse and kinky like hers, and appeared to be jealous of [Plaintiff's] national origin." (Id. ¶ 4.) Plaintiff also claims that Dr. Hunter-McGregor "body shamed [her] repeatedly by commenting on [her] physical appearance and body shape," which Plaintiff regards as "related to [her] gender." (Id.) On multiple occasions she told Plaintiff to cover her body in front of a male assistant principal, which Plaintiff interprets as "show[ing] a jealousy regarding [Plaintiff's] feminine appearance with regard to [her] hips and buttocks." (Id.)²

According to Plaintiff, during both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years, she was approved to transfer to other schools in the District, but Dr. Hunter-McGregor allegedly blocked both transfers, telling other principals that she could not afford to lose Plaintiff. (Id. ¶ 6.)

There must have been some dissatisfaction with Plaintiff's performance, however, because in June 2020, Dr. Hunter-McGregor provided, and Plaintiff signed, a Juul extension of probation agreement, which extended Plaintiff's tenure date until September 1, 2021. (Id. ¶ 7.)³

Plaintiff alleges that in September 2020, Marci Tiggs, the Human Resources ("HR") Director, told Plaintiff she would be assigned as a "split teacher," meaning she would teach three classes at the Hamilton School and two classes at the Graham School for the 2020-21 school year, working at both schools each day. (Id. ¶¶ 8; 24.) That same month, Plaintiff informed her co-building representative, Michael Jernegons,⁴ that staff members including herself were being "Zoom bombed" while teaching their classes remotely,⁵ and he subsequently reported this to Dr. Hunter-McGregor, but Plaintiff never heard of any potential solution. (Id. ¶ 9.)

Around October 5, 2020, Dr. Hunter-McGregor allegedly asked Mr. Jernegons why Plaintiff was reporting to the Graham School each day, and Mr. Jernegons informed Plaintiff that Dr. Hunter-McGregor did not ask this about other teachers who had similar split schedules. (Id. ¶ 10.) On October 8, 2020, Plaintiff reported to the Graham School, as instructed by the superintendent, and at 2:00 p.m. the assistant principal, Mark Raimondi, called Plaintiff - allegedly at Dr. Hunter-McGregor's instruction - to ask where Plaintiff's car was because she did not see it in the parking lot and needed to verify Plaintiff's attendance. (Id. ¶ 11.) On October 13, Dr. Hunter-McGregor sent Plaintiff a "condescending email, with bold and capital letters," instructing her to report to the Hamilton School, even though no other teacher was told to do the same and two other teachers started their days at another school in the District but were allowed to stay at the Graham School for remote teaching. (Id. ¶ 12.)⁶ At virtual staff meetings on both October 14th and 15th, and during an October 30th union meeting, Dr. Hunter-McGregor allegedly informed Plaintiff that she would be checking in with the principal at the Hamilton School, Mr. Christian, about Plaintiff's attendance. (Id. ¶¶ 13, 15-16.)

On October 15th, Dr. Hunter-McGregor directed Plaintiff to meet with her about a parental complaint that Plaintiff had removed from a Zoom class a student who would not turn on their camera or identify themselves. (Id. ¶ 14.) Plaintiff claims that this issue had been previously resolved with Mr. Raimondi and that she had removed the student due to her concerns about the recent Zoom bombing she had experienced. (Id. ¶¶ 14, 17.) On October 30th, Dr. Hunter-McGregor sent Plaintiff a counseling letter relating to the parent's complaint. (Id. ¶ 17.)

On November 4, 2020, Plaintiff complained to her union's president and vice president, stating she believed she was being targeted by Dr. Hunter-McGregor and subjected to a hostile work environment, which led to her having trouble sleeping and suffering from headaches, anxiety, and nausea. (Id. ¶ 18.) On November 11th, Plaintiff filed a harassment complaint against Dr. Hunter-McGregor with the District's HR department, alleging Dr. Hunter-McGregor had made inappropriate comments about her hair, body shape and attire. (Id. ¶ 19.)⁷

On November 30th, Mr. Raimondi - allegedly per Dr. Hunter-McGregor's instructions and without authority to do so - directed Plaintiff to take a rapid COVID-19 test based on her potential exposure to a staff member at the Hamilton School who had tested positive. (Id. ¶ 20.) In a call that night at around 10:30 p.m., Dr. Hunter-McGregor allegedly "unleashed a barrage of unprofessional comments," screamed and yelled at Plaintiff for not returning any of her calls, and interrogated Plaintiff about her possible COVID-19 exposure. (Id. ¶ 21.) Plaintiff believes this "unequivocal[ ] violat[ion of] the codes of professionalism and ethics" was retaliation for Plaintiff filing a complaint with HR on November 11th. (Id.) Plaintiff filed another harassment complaint with HR on December 2nd addressing the impropriety of the November 30th phone call. (Id. ¶ 22.)

On December 4th, Dr. Hunter-McGregor emailed Plaintiff instructing Plaintiff to meet with her on December 9th, with the right to a union representative, to discuss the COVID-19 exposure as a potential disciplinary matter. (Id. ¶ 23.) That same day, Plaintiff emailed Ms. Tiggs in HR to complain about the number of disciplinary meetings Dr. Hunter-McGregor requested with Plaintiff. (Id. ¶ 24.)

In a December 22, 2020 Zoom meeting with Plaintiff and the parent who had voiced concerns earlier in the school year, Dr. Hunter-McGregor "did not attempt to set protocol . . . with the parent," who was rude, belittling, and insulting to Plaintiff. (Id. ¶ 25.) On January 13, 2021, Plaintiff emailed Dr. Hunter-McGregor and her assistant principal stating that the same parent had sent Plaintiff harassing and insulting messages, including outside school hours. (Id. ¶ 26.) Plaintiff forwarded the conversation with the parent and asked for suggestions on how to deal with the irate parent, but got no response. (Id.) The next day, Dr. Hunter-McGregor directed Plaintiff to meet with her, the parent and Dr. Kim Smith, the Associate Superintendent for Student Support Services, and Plaintiff was instructed to hold office hours for her students. (Id. ¶ 27.) On January 20th, Plaintiff "inadvertently recorded" a meeting with the same student. (Id.) At a meeting with Dr. Hunter-McGregor and Dr. Smith on January 28th on the subject, Dr. Smith said she did not think this "inadvertent recording" warranted discipline. (Id. ¶ 28.)

At a meeting on February 11th, Dr. Hunter-McGregor informed Plaintiff that she would be receiving a counseling letter about recording the student on Zoom. (Id. ¶ 30.) Dr. Hunter-McGregor also brought up union matters that had been discussed at the monthly union meeting on February 3rd, despite Plaintiff telling her that at this time, she was present as a teacher, not as a union representative. (Id.)

During February or March 2021, Principal Christian told Plaintiff he was going to offer her tenure. (Id. ¶ 31.) On February 11, 2021, Plaintiff emailed Ms. Tiggs requesting to meet with HR to request a transfer away from Dr. Hunter-McGregor, who was "utilizing antagonizing and oppressive tactics" toward her. (Id. ¶ 32.) Ms. Tiggs responded that an investigation would conclude by February 12th, but Plaintiff did not hear about the results - which she does not describe - until April 5th. (Id.)

On March 24, 2021, Dr. Hunter-McGregor told Plaintiff that she was not going to recommend Plaintiff for tenure, and the next day Ms. Tiggs informed Plaintiff that she should submit a resignation letter by June 30, 2021 or would be let go. (Id. ¶ 34.) Plaintiff refused to sign a resignation letter, so was terminated effective June 30, 2021. (Id.)

Plaintiff believes Dr. Hunter-McGregor (1) discriminated against her on the basis of her race, national origin, and gender based on the body shaming comments; (2)...