Collegiate Times

A former employee has filed an antidiscrimination suit against the Montgomery County School Board in federal court alleging she was discharged in retaliation for her repeated complaints regarding religious hostility in the workplace.

Mecklenburg County resident and former Blacksburg Middle School employee Judith Scott, 56, has filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke to seek remedy for her discharge on what she claims were retaliatory grounds after she complained about the hostile work environment arising from her supervisor's exclusionary religious activities.

Montgomery County School Board Chairman Wendell Jones said he was unfamiliar with the details of the suit and refused to comment.

Jones is the only named individual in the suit.

The lawsuit does not state whether the school board was ever aware of Scott's situation. Scott's lawyer, Roanoke attorney Terry Grimes, said they are responsible for ensuring that school employment is free from discrimination.

"Whether the individual board members know about it is neither here nor there," Grimes told the Roanoke Times.

The suit documents several alleged incidents while Scott was employed as a media aid assistant that it says amount to religious harassment and discrimination.

In April 2005, when Scott's supervisor asked to pray for her while at work, Scott complied out of a sense of pressure, the suit says. The same unnamed supervisor later told Scott she loved her, wouldn't know what to do without her and thanked God for her.

Later that month Scott was invited to attend a religious conference with several faculty members, though she declined to attend. When her coworkers returned, they gave her several Christian themed DVDs, CDs and audiotapes in an alleged attempt to proselytize her.

The suit alleges that the supervisor would dim the library's lights, hold prayer meetings, "anoint" the premises and "lay hands" on those present. The supervisor would also leave "praise" sticky notes and daily Bible verses around for Scott to see.

When Scott complained to her supervisor about the harassment, the work environment became increasingly hostile with the supervisor saying she felt a "righteous anger" toward Scott and finding more and more fault with her work as well as preparing a poor performance evaluation, according to the lawsuit.

Scott met with the assistant superintendent and other administrators to file a grievance and was offered the opportunity to transfer to another facility, according to the suit. Scott refused, saying she'd done nothing wrong and only wanted to do her job in a non-hostile environment.

Scott's employment contract was subsequently not renewed; the suit alleges this was in retaliation for her complaints.