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Hamilton County: Race bias suit called ‘borderline frivolous’

By: Kelli Gauthier
(Contact)

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Scott Bennett

A lawyer for the Hamilton County school system on Thursday called a former assistant principal’s lawsuit against the district for alleged racial discrimination “borderline frivolous.”

Joshuah Barber, former assistant principal at Brainerd High School, is suing the school system, claiming he was treated unfairly because he is black.

“For Mr. Barber to say that Dr. Jim Scales, Dr. Marvin Lott and James Colbert are biased against black males is borderline frivolous,” said Scott Bennett, an attorney for the Hamilton County Department of Education. School Superintendent Dr. Scales, system Director of Recruitment Dr. Lott and Area II Superintendent Mr. Colbert all are black.

But Mr. Barber’s attorney, Robin Flores, said a person’s race does not determine whether he has discriminated against another person.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re white or black,” he said. “(Mr. Barber) believes there were discriminatory acts.”

A message left for Mr. Barber at his home was not returned Thursday.

For about eight months last year, Mr. Barber was suspended without pay after allegedly using pepper spray to break up a fight at Brainerd High School. After reaching a settlement with the school system, Mr. Barber was demoted to a teaching position and given back pay.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court this week, claims several white coaches working for the school system assaulted and used racially inflammatory language toward students but were not demoted. Mr. Barber is asking for $600,000 in damages.

“(The Hamilton County Department of Education) discriminated against (Mr. Barber) based upon his race as shown by the unequal treatment of (Mr. Barber) when compared to the two white coaches, thereby subjecting (Mr. Barber) to unfair terms and conditions of employment,” the lawsuit states.

Although Mr. Flores does not list names of the white coaches, Mr. Bennett said he was fairly certain one of them was Ron Baker, a former basketball coach at Ooltewah High School. Mr. Baker was suspended after two students complained about his use of a racial epithet in describing the Red Bank High School basketball team.

Forced to resign or be fired, Mr. Baker resigned.

Mr. Bennett said the school system had plenty of evidence against Mr. Barber that never was made public because the two parties settled to avoid a hearing.

“Now that Mr. Barber has reopened this matter in the public eye, the administration welcomes the opportunity to present the results of its investigation to the federal judge,” Mr. Bennett said.

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