Bakersfield, CA – A tentative settlement has been reached in the case of a veteran teacher and local rabbi who sued the Edison School District claiming discrimination on the basis of religion, age, gender and hostile work environment.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Bruce Neal alleged in May 2009 that former Orangewood Elementary School Principal Mark Holmes “intentionally and unlawfully harassed, discriminated and retaliated against him” between 1999 and 2008.
Details on the settlement were not disclosed.
“It was negotiated in good faith,” said Jacob Weisberg, Neal’s attorney. “It was satisfactory to all sides.”
The settlement details must be approved by the board of the school district’s insurance provider. This could take about a month.
Weisberg said Neal would not comment on the settlement.
Neal is an ordained Orthodox rabbi and second-grade teacher. Neal complained he was forced to remove his yarmulke, criticized for his diet and religious clothing and subjected to negative comments from co-workers about his being Jewish.
Holmes resigned from the district in January 2008, shortly after receiving a Notice of Unprofessional Conduct letter, and was informed the Edison school board would investigate his actions.
A trial was scheduled for June 7, 2011. Edison’s attorney, Leonard Herr, who could not be reached by press time Friday, said last month they hoped the case would be resolved as soon as possible.
Its unbelievable that we live in a world with this amount of Godlessness in this day and age.
Muslims can cover their face with no repercussions gays have right to marry and illegals have more rights then Americans in California but a Jew gets punished and discriminated for wearing his yarmulke great country we live in
You are so right about Canada. Jews in the USA seem to think religious freedom is the same, church and state are not separate; and Jews were never accepted. I speak as a Canadian Jew.
People are being discriminated against if they are religious today; that is unless you are a moslem because if you do you could be beaten up and charge with not being politically correct. Look at obama he bows before everybody in the middle east
but yet keeps Pollard in jail. If he was a moslem he would have been out on January 21, 09