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Educator who claims he lost out on superintendent job for saying ‘ladies’ is suing the school district
Easthampton rescinded Vito Perrone's job offer last year after he referred to two women as "ladies" in an email, but school officials say other factors were at play.
A Western Massachusetts educator is suing five local school officials who pulled his job offer to lead Easthampton Public Schools after he referred to a group of women as “ladies.”
In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Vito Perrone alleges Easthampton officials violated his constitutional rights last year when they rescinded a proffered three-year contract that would have paid him $151,000 annually. The school committee members voted to do so before informing Perrone of their reasons and without offering him a chance to fully address their concerns, the lawsuit alleges.
As a result, Perrone claims he “suffered lost wages, lost employment benefits, lost retirement benefits, loss of future employment opportunities, emotional distress, personal humiliation, damage to his personal and professional reputation, and incurred attorneys’ fees and litigation costs.”
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The lawsuit names Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, the Easthampton School Committee, current members Megan Harvey and Benjamin Hersey, and former members Cynthia Kwiecinski and Marin Goldstein. Goldstein declined to comment on the lawsuit, and none of the other defendants responded to requests for comment.
Previously:
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A Mass. school committee rescinded a superintendent candidate’s job offer after he referred to women as ‘ladies’
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‘Too many concerns’: School committee chair offers context after ‘ladies’ controversy
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Students flagged ‘transphobic rhetoric’ in Facebook posts by most recent Easthampton superintendent finalist
According to Perrone, the conflict stems from a March 29, 2023, contract negotiations email he sent Kwiecinski, who was then the school committee chairperson, and Executive Assistant Suzanne Colby.
“Ladies,” he wrote by way of greeting. “Good evening! I perused the [employment] contract and have three requests.” Those requests included additional vacation and sick days, as well as cost of living adjustments for the final two years of his contract, per the lawsuit.
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According to minutes from a school committee executive session the following night, Kwiecinski said Perrone’s email “discouraged” her, and she found his use of “ladies” insulting, “unprofessional and dismissive.”
“She stated she is terrified of his behavior, she sees a major problem, and is worried of a procedure to terminate if needed, versus rescinding the offer now,” the minutes state.
According to the meeting record, some committee members felt that writing “ladies” instead of the women’s names or titles constituted a microaggression — a subtle and sometimes unintentional slight. The minutes also indicate some committee members balked at Perrone’s request for more paid time off.
Five committee members ultimately voted to revoke Perrone’s contract offer. When Kwiecinski informed him of the decision, Perrone apologized and vowed to be more formal moving forward, but the chair “stated the committee does not need someone who needs to be chastised,” according to the minutes.
Following their vote, school officials “intentionally and maliciously defamed” Perrone, mischaracterizing the decision in media interviews, social media, and subsequent meetings, his lawsuit alleges.
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The defendants “publicly portrayed [Perrone] as an oppressor who is an insensitive, unprofessional, dismissive, insulting, and sexist person, and who also fails to grasp rapidly advancing social conventions,” the complaint states.
Speaking to the Daily Hampshire Gazette last year, Kwiecinski pointed to Perrone’s negotiation requests as a factor, including that he requested 70 days, or 14 weeks, of paid time off for his first year on the job. She also said the committee also grew concerned when it couldn’t reach him to extend the job offer after 11 p.m. on March 23, 2023.
“The general feeling was that there were too many concerns before we had even begun negotiating the rest of the contract and alarm bells were going off,” she told the newspaper at the time.
Perrone, who previously held posts as Easthampton High School principal and West Springfield Public Schools interim superintendent, has since found another job leading Hampshire Regional School District. His lawsuit is seeking $300,000.
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