Mobile principal wins discrimination lawsuit after being overlooked for job because of race

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William Henderson won an employment discrimination lawsuit recently against Mobile county.  According to Henderson’s attorney, John Goldfarb, this kind of case is very difficult to prove. “I don’t know what the statistics are of winning these cases in Mobile. I can’t remember when the last one happened,” he said.

William Henderson is a 30-year employee for Mobile county schools. According to AL.com, Henderson had worked as a teacher, track and field coach, guidance counselor, achievement specialist, and assessment team leader in addition to being an assistant principal. According to his LinkedIn account, Henderson graduated from the University of South Alabama with his Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education and teaching, his master’s degree in guidance counseling, and a certification in Education administration. He also graduated from the University of West Alabama as an Education Specialist in Instructional Leadership.

He was an assistant principal when he tried to apply for a Principal position at Theodore High School, a predominately white school.  Henderson did not get the job, even though the interview committee ranked Henderson as the top applicant. Instead, he received a principal position at a predominately Black school, where his pay was lower. 

According to the complaint, the school district used a scoring system to rank the candidates. Martha Peek, superintendent at the time, conducted her own interviews with candidates and scored a white candidate higher. Henderson’s lawyer argued to the jury that Peek created a score sheet that she presented to the school board as coming from the interview committee. 

“They really got caught red-handed with this fake score sheet that they couldn’t explain,” Goldfarb said. “She tried to deny it, but we could show it came from the superintendent’s office because it has the superintendent’s stamp on it.”

The mostly white jury ruled in favor of Henderson. The jury awarded him $128,573.39 in back pay and damages. “The jury found he was being discriminated against because he was denied the principal(ship) of Theodore, which is traditionally a mostly white school, and they put him over an African American school,” said Goldfarb.

According to school rankings at USNews.com, John Leflore Prep Academy is ranked 202nd in Alabama. Theodore High School is ranked 237th.