The Miami-Dade County Public School District was sued for allegedly discriminating against an employee for having an arrest record and no convictions.
The complaint was filed on March 23 in the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court by plaintiff Lamont T. Green. The case was removed to federal court on April 23.
Green is a Black man and worked for the defendant twice from 2006 to 2008 and from 2011 to 2012 as an exceptional studies educator and football coach. In 2012, he left the defendant's employ to obtain a new certification for exceptional studies after the standards changed.
Green then approached the school district in 2017 after getting the certification with intent to be rehired as exceptional studies educator. According to the complaint, Green's application was denied due to a 1995 arrest that did not result in a conviction.
Despite the plaintiff questioning the decision, especially since he had already been employed with the district and had disclosed the arrest when he was hired in 2006, Green says he was told that this was a change in school board policy and no one with an arrest record regardless of conviction was eligible for employment.
The district is charged with Title VIII Civil Rights Act violation based on race, Florida Civil Rights Act based on race and Fourteenth Amendment violation.
Green is represented by Feiler and Leach of Coral Gables.