Posted on October 6, 2011

Former Principal Sues Board for Discrimination

Post South, October 5, 2011

The white former principal of East Iberville School has filed a federal lawsuit claiming she was demoted from the job in a case of reverse discrimination.

Maria S. Delouise filed the suit for unspecified monetary damages in U. S. District Court in Baton Rouge naming as defendants the Iberville Parish School Board, Superintendent P. Edward Cancienne Jr., Board President Melvin Lodge of St. Gabriel and former St. Gabriel Mayor George L. Grace Sr.

She alleged Cancienne promised Lodge and Grace, both black, she would be demoted so East Iberville could have an African American principal.

In her lawsuit, Delouise claims Cancienne told her “this is not about your job performance. This is about the color of our skin. You are not the right color for this job. They want a Black principal.”

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According to her suit, she filed a racial discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in March and was demoted to librarian in May.

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