New lawsuit contends retaliation against Sewickley Academy in race debate

A lawsuit filed Wednesday against Sewickley Academy alleges that faculty members were told to teach “both sides” of issues such as slavery in the school’s Black history classes, after last year’s controversy over allegations about a social justice program.

Michael-Ann Cerniglia, D. Barrett Gough, Jill Korber Small and Gail Wolfe were fired on March 5 — two days after police were called to the school as students attempted to give a petition to Head of School Ashley Birtwell.

They contend in their lawsuit that they were fired in retaliation for speaking out against the termination of five people last summer — including all of the school’s Black administrators.

Jennifer Donovan, a spokeswoman for Sewickley Academy, said, “We strongly disagree with the claims and cannot comment further on pending litigation.”

According to the lawsuit, Cerniglia was chair of the senior school’s history and social sciences department, while Gough and Wolfe were teachers in that department. Korber Small was a teacher in the senior school’s English department.

The controversy swirling around the school began in April 2021 when the school’s board of trustees adopted initiatives on diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice to teach about racial intolerance.

The program sought to achieve more diverse representation for students, faculty and staff. However, by early June, a group of parents complained that the social justice initiative was “Critical Race Theory dressed in sheep’s clothing.”

A short time later, the social justice program goals were removed from the school’s website, and the former head of school, Kolia O’Connor, was removed. Five other administrators and another teacher were then fired in July.

The plaintiffs in the case filed on Wednesday showed their support for those who were fired, the complaint said, and were therefore viewed by school administrators as “ring leaders” and “pot-stirrers” on issues of race. They were told by school leaders that they should “get over ‘the past.’

“ ‘The past’ became a code word among defendant’s administrators for defendant’s elimination of its entire African American administrative population in the summer of 2021,” the lawsuit said.

It alleges that the school’s administrators told faculty to stop talking about the past and specifically instructed plaintiffs to not discuss anything racially controversial in an African American history class, or discuss current events.

The plaintiffs also claim that they were told to make sure that African American history classes teach “ ‘both sides’ of issues such as slavery.”

According to the complaint, Head of School Ashley Birtwell admonished Cerniglia in August for “stirring the pot” over racial issues at the school. The lawsuit also alleges that school administration said it had received a complaint after Gough hung a Black Lives Matter flag in his classroom.

Then, on March 3, the lawsuit said, Gough and Wolfe planned to conduct a voluntary, opt-in reading and discussion group on Critical Race Theory for interested students.

However, the lawsuit said that school administrators, who never previously had scrutinized opt-in topics, objected.

A student’s parent complained about the planned session, and the faculty members were told it would escalate tensions in the school, the complaint said.

Wolfe and Gough were told to postpone the event.

On the same day, several students also asked Wolfe to accompany them to deliver a petition opposing racial discrimination to Birtwell.

The group of about a dozen students, four family members and Wolfe went to the office and requested a meeting with the head of school but were told she wasn’t there.

Ken Goleski, assistant head of school, directed that Sewickley police be called, the lawsuit said, and then summarily fired Wolfe while she consoled a crying student.

According to the complaint, Wolfe was told she was fired because she was “argumentative and communicated inappropriately with Goleski. They also said she was insubordinate. Dr. Wolfe did none of those things,” the lawsuit said.

The complaint, however, said that Wolfe’s discharge was rescinded, only to be fired again on March 5, along with the rest of the plaintiffs.

In nearly identical letters, the lawsuit said, the plaintiffs were fired because of their “opposition to the school’s employment and racial policies and practices” and because they were “‘uncooperative,’ ‘unprofessional’ and ‘contentious.’ ”

Goleski resigned.

The lawsuit filed this week is the second filed against the school following last year’s controversy. One filed last year by Douglas Leek, the school’s former director of admissions and financial aid, alleging race discrimination and breach of contract, was settled by the parties in October.

No details about the settlement have been released.