BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A Black teacher’s aide at Gunn High School has sued the Palo Alto Unified School District for allegedly firing her because she reported that she was receiving racist text messages from a coworker.
“The timing of her termination — immediately after raising concerns about the racist texts and shunning — proves clear retaliation, especially given her positive track record and strong performance,” said the lawsuit by Diana Fox on June 2.
Fox was hired in November as a substitute aide in Palo Alto through a staffing agency called Stepping Stones Group.
She worked at different school sites for $32 an hour, and her supervisors complimented her work, the lawsuit said.
Shortly after starting at Gunn, Fox said she started receiving racist text messages from an unknown number that made it clear she was not welcome at the school.
Fox said she deleted the first message and changed her number after receiving a second message.
But her supervisor shared her new phone number in a group chat on Dec. 9, the suit said.
Fox said on Dec. 20, she received four racist texts calling her the n-word, referencing her skin color and telling her not to go back to Gunn.
“They hate you here at Gunn, hoping you’ll quit. Just do yourself a favor and don’t return,” one text said.
Fox said she forwarded the messages to Assistant Principal Kat Catalano the next day. Catalano replied “thanks” and said she would check in after winter break, according to the lawsuit.
Transferred to different classroom
Fox said she was hired for the rest of the school year at Gunn on Jan. 5. But when she returned from break on Jan. 7, she said she was placed in a different classroom away from the other teacher aides without any explanation.
“Today has been super sad for me. I obviously have done something I’m unaware of that has gotten me alienated from the rest of every one else,” Fox texted Catalano in the afternoon.
Catalano said she “understood” but never followed up on the text messages, Fox said.
Fox said she told Erik Olsen, a coordinator at Stepping Stones Group, about the racist messages and asked for a different assignment.
“Totally unacceptable. Whoever sent you those texts should be fired. The principal never informed us about these messages. They begged us to let you stay,” Olsen replied, according to the lawsuit.
Fox said she was fired by the district the next day, allegedly because Catalano found out she had reported the messages to her staffing agency.
The staffing agency fired Fox a few days later, the suit said.
The California Department of Fair Employment Housing gave Fox the right to sue the district on March 16. Her case was filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court by attorney Navruz Avloni.
The district doesn’t comment on pending lawsuits, said district spokeswoman Lynette White in an email.