Administrator Sues York City School District

An assistant superintendent with the York City School District alleges in a federal lawsuit that she has been unjustly disciplined, harassed and otherwise discriminated against because she is white.

Deborah Mieczkowski was hired by the school district in 2004 and was promoted to acting assistant superintendent the next year, according to the lawsuit. Her role was made permanent in July 2006.

In a lawsuit filed last week against the district, Superintendent Tresa Diggs and Human Resources Director Deloris Penn, Mieczkowski alleges she has been a victim of reverse discrimination and that her civil rights have been violated.

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Mieczkowski alleges several instances of reverse discrimination.

In 2004, as acting assistant superintendent, she tried to discipline a black high school principal, according to the lawsuit. But Diggs allegedly warned her against it because school board president Jeff Kirkland wouldn’t like it, according to the suit.

Mieczkowski alleges school board member Beverly Atwater, who is black, said in a 2006 executive session that Penn was always going after blacks and stated, “it’s about time you went after some whites.”

Penn, who is black, then pursued Mieczkowski as a way to satisfy the district’s desire to go after whites, the lawsuit alleges.

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Mieczkowski also gives several other examples of alleged discrimination, including that:

She was only given a 5 percent pay increase when promoted to acting assistant superintendent, while others in the past got 10 percent.

Diggs told her not to take part in executive sessions although Penn was allowed to remain.

She was verbally reprimanded by Diggs for being slightly late to a meeting while black people who were consistently late for meetings were never disciplined or reprimanded.