A Newport middle school teacher alleges racist bullying by fellow teachers. Now she's suing.

NEWPORT – A Spanish teacher at Thompson Middle School is accusing her colleagues, the teachers’ union and administrators of subjecting her to a racist and hostile work environment and retaliating when she complained about discriminatory comments by a fellow teacher.

Olga Pardo, who is Hispanic and a native of Bogota, Columbia, filed a sweeping lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court alleging that the city, School Committee, Superintendent Colleen Jermain, Thompson school administrators, the Teachers Association of Newport and several colleagues had violated her civil rights by permitting a pattern of harassment based upon race and national origin.

Additionally, Pardo accused the district of violating fair employment laws and the state Whistleblowers' Protection Act by retaliating against her and limiting employment opportunities after she reported homophobic, racist comments by language arts teacher and then-Thompson union representative Erika Durand.

Durand declined to speak about the allegations on the record. Lynda S. Avanzato, lawyer for the teachers’ union, did not respond to questions about Pardo’s allegations. The president of the union declined comment.

Superintendent Jermain referred questions to William J. Conley Jr., lawyer for the district. Conley said Tuesday morning that he had not yet been served and had not reviewed the complaint.

Pardo is being represented by Stephen M. Robinson and Vicki J. Bejma.

`Don’t forget that you are brown’

According to the complaint, Durand told Pardo to “just remember your place. Don’t forget that you are brown” shortly after Pardo began teaching at the school in September 2021, and described then-Principal Xavier Barrios, who identifies as gay, as a “homosexual [slur].”

Durand similarly disparaged the two other staff members of color at the school, where the majority of students are people of color, while the staff is almost entirely white, the suit says.

Durand’s remarks made it clear, Pardo alleges, that people of color should be kept in their “place” and should not hold positions of authority.

Pardo said she reported the racist, offensive remarks to Barrios, who she said took no action but observed that they were both new to the school and should work together for the benefit of the students.

Pardo accuses Durand of behaving in a hostile, threatening manner due to her animus toward people of color and alleged that the union was aware of the hostility and did nothing to stop it.

Pardo said she received complaints from students of color about Durand’s unfair and unkind treatment, which she alleges she reported to Barrios "numerous” times.

He confided that he had gone to his superior “many” times about Durand’s conduct, but his hands were tied because Jermain did not care, according to the complaint.

Pardo accuses Barrios’ then-secretary Elaine Rearick, guidance counselor Megan Cawley and others of colluding with Durand to further her campaign of racial harassment and retaliation against Pardo for reporting the racist and homophobic slurs, the suit says.

Principal filed his own complaint alleging harassment

In February 2023, Barrios filed his own complaint against Durand, alleging that she had harassed him based on his race, skin color, sexual orientation and age. Newport Public Schools hired Mathew Oliverio to investigate his claims.

According to Newport This Week reports, the union in turn filed a complaint against Barrios.

Oliverio’s report and recommendation is confidential because it involves personnel, Oliverio said in an email. The district referred all questions to Conley, who did not release the report.

Barrios, who was hired as principal in July 2021, submitted his resignation in May, citing a desire to pursue new opportunities. He could not be reached for comment.

Parents sue over persistent bullying allegations

In January, parents of a former Thompson student sued Barrios, Assistant Principal Nicholas Vockerodt and others over the alleged bullying of their son.

The bullying included daily name-calling, taunting, physical abuse and other misconduct, such as threats to their son’s life with a knife, according to their complaint. In another instance, students placed several notes in the boy’s locker, including one an Valentine’s Day that read “Go kill yourself.” In yet another, the parents said, students stuffed macaroni and cheese down his pants twice in one day.

They are accusing the Newport Public Schools of negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violating their duty to care for their son, who has since left the district.

More: Judge throws out sex-abuse lawsuit against Portsmouth Abbey School. Here's why.

In 2022, according to the Newport Daily News, the unions representing the teachers and staff at Thompson each presented Jermain with a vote of no confidence letter regarding Barrios.

The unions asserted that Barrios and his administration team’s tolerance for “unsafe behaviors” had led to a “chaotic and unsafe teaching and learning environment” this year.

Previous retaliation suit in Johnston

It is not Pardo’s first lawsuit alleging widespread mistreatment by a teachers’ union, administrators and faculty. In 2005, she sued Johnston schools, the union and others in federal court accusing them of subjecting her to an ongoing pattern of harassing, intimidating, assaultive, humiliating and embarrassing behavior after she refused to sign a union letter alleging misconduct by the superintendent.

In that case, Pardo claimed her colleagues retaliated against her, isolated her and directed racist comments at her.

Court records indicate that the case was ordered into settlement talks and that stipulations of dismissal were reached.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Thompson Middle School teacher she was subjected to racist harassment