Former custodian at Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified accuses district of racial discrimination

A former custodian who retired from the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District two years ago is accusing district officials of racially discriminating against him whenever he applied for promotions during his 25 years of employment.

In a lawsuit filed June 13 in Sonoma County Superior Court, Rohnert Park resident Victor Boyd accused the district of wrongful failure to promote based on age and racial discrimination and also failure to prevent discrimination.

He contends the district violated the state of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, which prevents an employer from discriminating against an employee on the basis of age and race.

The 64-year-old Boyd, who is Black, had been a night shift custodian at the district since 1995. During his employment there, he contended that he had applied for a daytime position on 10 different occasions. He had interviews for eight of them.

Even though he met the position qualifications, his lawsuit contends, Boyd was passed over for younger, less-experienced applicants who he trained. None of whom were Black.

“CRPUSD purposefully excluded African Americans from promotion and placed an artificial ‘glass ceiling’ on Boyd from being promoted to a position he was more than qualified for,” Boyd’s lawsuit contends.

Boyd said in the suit that he planned to work until he was 65 but opted to retire in June 2021 after he was again rejected for another promotion months earlier. This forced him to lose wages, medical benefits, retirement benefits and general damages since then, according to the lawsuit.

District Superintendent Mayra Perez declined Monday to discuss Boyd’s lawsuit or the allegations it contains.

“We do not comment on or discuss active legal matters in the interest of protecting the fidelity of the legal proceedings,” she said in an email.

Boyd’s attorney with Krankemann Law Offices in Santa Rosa did not return calls for comment from The Press Democrat.

A case management conference is scheduled for Oct. 24 before Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Patrick Broderick, court records show.

The school district has a dozen campuses and the lawsuit indicates Boyd did general cleaning, maintenance, repairs and groundskeeping at “various school sites.”

He most recently worked the night shift at Marguerite Hahn Elementary School in Rohnert Park when he applied for a day shift in November 2020.

According to the lawsuit, past rejections moved him to talk to district officials about his concerns about discriminatory practices. But officials made no effort to investigate his complaint or change the job’s selection process to fall in line with anti-discrimination laws, his lawsuit contends.

Boyd said he did not get the daytime position even though he had years of experience and more reference letters than other job candidates.

The position in 2020 went to a candidate with three years of experience, according to a letter Boyd sent to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

His lawsuit said that after the position went to someone else, he requested a lateral transfer to another school to avoid facing school staff involved in the hiring process.

His lawsuit didn’t specify whether Boyd received the transfer or had to remain at Marguerite Hahn. It was his last year of employment, prior to his retirement.

“After months of depression surrounding the working conditions at CRPUSD and finding that his complaint regarding the district’s systemic discrimination was not being properly considered, Boyd decided to retire in June 2021,” according to the lawsuit.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi.