A Catoosa County, Georgia, assistant principal is suing the school district he works for over racial discrimination, claiming he was passed over twice for principal jobs that went to less-qualified and non-Mexican candidates, a lawsuit claims.
Hiram Celis, assistant principal at Battlefield Primary School, is suing Catoosa County Public Schools, alleging he was not given a second interview for two different jobs because he is Mexican.
Celis also claims in the lawsuit that Doug Cline, the head of human resources for the school district, told him he would never get a principal job as long as Cline was in charge of HR.
The school district has responded to Celis' claims and denied them. It also said that it does not know anything about the allegation against Cline but said that wouldn't have mattered either way because all principal hires go through Superintendent Denia Reese.
In May 2018, Celis applied and interviewed for the principal job at Westside Elementary.
Celis was not asked back for a second interview. Two white candidates were asked for a second interview even though, according to the lawsuit, the candidate who got the principal job had less experience as an assistant principal.
Celis has two master's degrees, one in educational leadership and the other in education. He also has a doctorate in education, a degree that the candidate who was given the principal job at Westside does not have, according to the lawsuit.
In December, Celis filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
About five months later in May, Celis interviewed for a job at Heritage Middle School that eventually went to a white candidate who also has less experience than Celis, the lawsuit says.
Both jobs went to the assistant principals at each respective school - Robert Mountjay and Melissa Butler - the district said in its response to Celis' lawsuit.
Celis has worked in education since 1991 and has worked for Catoosa County Schools since 2007.
He is suing Catoosa County Public Schools for "national origin discrimination" under Title VII. Celis is asking for a trial by jury, damages and the cost of attorney's fees.
In the lawsuit, it states Celis is the only Mexican assistant principal in the school district and that the district has no other minority assistant principals or principals.
Celis also claims in the lawsuit that he was told by a minority employee in the superintendent's office that if he wanted to move up the career ladder he "needed to look elsewhere."
The district's response
Catoosa County Public Schools said the two hires it made were for "legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons and for non-retaliatory reasons."
The district mostly denied all of Celis' allegations and said one of the reasons he wasn't chosen as principal in both instances is because it found Celis "had several 'needs improvement' ratings" after his interviews.
The district said it "is unaware of its employment" of any other assistant principals or principals of Mexican descent but that it does employ "many people in higher leadership positions who are members of a protected class and who have blended Mexican family members."
The district said Mountjay and Butler had "an inherent advantage in seeking" the principal positions at both schools because they were both assistant principals at their respective schools before interviewing.
Celis' attorney was not able to be reached for comment.
Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.