By Rachel Wegner/ The Tennessean
NASHVILLE, TN — A Black woman fired from her job and replaced with a non-Black employee in the school choice division of the Tennessee Department of Education has filed a lawsuit against the department.
The suit, filed Tuesday by former employee Serena Sayles in Davidson County Chancery Court, lays out allegations of racial discrimination and retaliation tied to a brief medical leave she took from January to February 2023 after giving birth. She was ultimately fired that May.
The suit says Sayles was the only Black director-level employee in the School Choice division, where she oversaw the charter schools team for just under a year before being fired.
Here’s what to know about the lawsuit and its allegations. Lawsuit alleges altered performance review, false statements
Sayles argues that she was highly qualified, had never been written up or placed on a performance improvement plan and received positive feedback on her work performance. She also accused the department of later modifying her performance review to lower its numerical scores and insert negative comments as part of its justification to replace her. The suit also said high-ranking department leaders asked her manager, Nate Parker, to produce a document with “feedback” he heard about her.
The document had inaccurate and untrue statements, the suit says.
“For example, Mr. Parker wrote he was once told Plaintiff ‘asked too many questions’ during a particular meeting. In that meeting, however, Plaintiff only asked one or two questions — after the person leading the meeting opened the floor for questions,” the suit states. “Even if the allegation that Plaintiff ‘asked too many questions’ was true — which was not — it was a racially-charged allegation based on negative racial stereotypes of the ‘angry Black woman’ (e.g., that Plaintiff was ‘too loud’ and/or ‘too opinionated’ in the meeting).”
The suit claims Sayles didn’t know about the document her manager created until after she was fired.
“During her employment, Defendant did not attempt to discipline (or even formally verbally counsel) Plaintiff about the allegations described in the document,” the suit says.
Sayles was told she was terminated due to the expiration of her service appointment.
Who replaced Sayles
The person who replaced Sayles was named as Shelby Goodfriend, who the suit says was first hired as the director of the Education Savings Account Program Accountability team. Shortly after she was hired, Goodfriend’s job duties were eliminated and, despite numerous other open positions, department leaders met to discuss moving her into Sayles’ position. Along with identifying Goodfriend as a non-Black employee, the suit also notes that Goodfriend had not recently requested a “reasonable accommodation to recover from childbirth,” unlike Sayles.
The Department of Education declined to comment on the case, saying it does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation.
What the lawsuit seeks
Sayles is suing on two counts: race discrimination that violates the Tennessee Human Rights Act and retaliation that violates the Tennessee Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The suit requests a jury trial. Sayles is seeking damages of up to $3.5 million that include things like compensation for lost wages, attorney fees and other costs.
Nashville attorney Jesse Harbison is representing Sayles.
