Superintendent placed on leave files discrimination lawsuit against Wayland schools

WAYLAND — A year after he filed a discrimination complaint against the town and School Committee, Omar Easy has filed a $5 million lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court.

Easy, who was hired Wayland superintendent three years ago, was placed on paid administrative leave in February 2022. He has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Town of Wayland, School Committee member Ellen Grieco and former School Committee member Christopher Ryan.

In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday, Easy said the School Committee "fostered a racially hostile work environment so severe and pervasive that it posed a formidable barrier to the full participation of Black employees, including Dr. Easy, in the workplace."

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Easy is Black; Grieco and Ryan are white, as are all current School Committee members.

Easy states that racial discrimination began during the hiring process when he claimed Grieco "suggested" Black people could not be leaders and asked the consultants conducting the search to find more white candidates because two of the three finalists were Black.

Easy said he was one of just three Black members of the school district's administrative council, which is comprised of about 20 senior administrators.

"Highlighting the severe and pervasive racially hostile work environment in the district, two of those three Black employees on the Administrative Council have filed complaints of race discrimination against Wayland, as did a third Black district administrator who left employment not long before Dr. Easy was hired."

School committee 'fanned the flames,' lawsuit alleges

The lawsuit alleges the School Committee — particularly Ryan and Grieco — "fanned the flames" of Easy's hostile workplace. The suit said his workplace was "replete with racist remarks, explicit racist graffiti, racial stereotyping," as well as undermining his leadership and abusive treatment.

The lawsuit specifically points to an incident where someone spraypainted a racial epiphet in view of people going to Wayland High School. The "N-Word" was also commonly used at district and school sporting events, the suit alleges.

After several incidents at Wayland Middle School, Easy suggested installing cameras in the hallway, similar to what the high school had.

The suggestion was denied.

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"In response, White district administrators and employees accused Dr. Easy of 'destroying Wayland's culture,' and 'bringing Everett culture to Wayland' — a veiled racist reference to Dr. Easy's majority-minority hometown," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also alleges the School Committee ignored racist incidents and opposed disciplinary measures. Easy had also obtained a harassment prevention order against a female town employee who "leveled particularly vitriolic racist attacks," but the School Committee urged Easy to drop it.

Easy alleges he was told he could be punished for opposing discrimination

According to the lawsuit, Ryan told Easy he would face consequences for opposing discrimination and said Easy did himself a "significant disservice" by raising discrimination concerns.

The lawsuit alleges that Ryan, Grieco and other members of the School Committee solicited complaints about Easy. After a January 2023 School Committee meeting, Easy asked the School Committee to publicly address the racially hostile work environment, but the committee instead worked to oust him from his job, the lawsuit alleges.

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On Feb. 8, 2023, the School Committee placed Easy on administrative leave with no notice and no explanation.

The lawsuit states that the School Committee later "essentially openly admitted" that it illegally retaliated against Easy in a letter to the state Attorney General's Office in answer to an Open Meeting Law complaint.

"… Chair Ryan wrote that Dr. Easy was placed on leave because he had raised concerns about the defendants' unlawful conduct and had indicated a willingness to file a formal complaint," according to the lawsuit.

Easy, after being placed on administrative leave, did file a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. That case is still pending.

Easy is seeking compensatory damages, including back pay and front pay and all lost benefits. He is also seeking damages for emotional distress, punitive damages and payment of all his legal fees.

Of the $5 million he is seeking, $1 million of it is "reasonably" lost wages and $4 million in other damages.

Neither Grieco nor Ryan could be reached for comment on Thursday. The town, through Town Manager Michael McCall, declined to comment.

Easy's lawyer, Matthew Fogelman of Newton, could not be reached for comment.

Not all defendants have been served the lawsuit. They will have until July 11 to respond to it.

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on X @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Omar Easy alleges racial discrimination in lawsuit against Wayland