Va. elementary principal sued for discrimination

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Three former teachers and administrators at Fairfax County’s biggest elementary school allege they faced racial discrimination and anti-pregnancy bias during their time there.

The lawsuit, filed last month in federal court in Alexandria, alleges that Bailey’s Elementary Principal Marie Lemmon told her assistants to only hire pretty, young blondes.

An assistant principal, Rachel Charlton, who now works at another Fairfax County school, said Lemmon began treating her with hostility once she got pregnant, and told her that she shouldn’t start a family until she became a principal.

The lawsuit also alleges that Lemmon dismissed a non-Christian family’s concerns about serving pork in the cafeteria because “we live in the United States.”

John Torre, a spokesman for Fairfax County Public Schools, which is named as a defendant, declined comment Wednesday.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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