Black P.E. Teacher Sues Palisades High School Over Discrimination

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA — A Black P.E. teacher has sued Palisades Charter High School after claiming she was discriminated against and eventually fired because of her race.

Utopia Kates, who also attended the school as a middle and high school student, accused Pali High of wrongful termination, discrimination, race-based harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She is seeking unspecified damages.

Kates was hired by the school on August 2, 2018, and "was commended on the quality of her presentation and work product by different faculty and the school administration," according to court papers. Kate says she was the only Black teacher in her department when she was hired.

The lawsuit draws a link to Kate's time as a student at Palisades High School, when she suffered through "unwelcome treatment" from a teacher that led her and her mother to file a complaint. Kates says that animosity remained when she joined the staff, and claims some of the teachers from her time as a student are still employed.

At the start of the first day of school on August 15, 2018, Kates discovered she hadn't received the necessary teaching materials promised to her by the administration. Kates was the only teacher who didn't receive materials, according to the lawsuit.

Later that day, she received a call from the Director of Human Resources, who then told her in a meeting she had been fired because she was "not a good fit."

Kates spoke to the school's assistant principal who had initially hired her, and says executive expressed shock that she had been fired so quickly. According to the lawsuit, the principal considered her "valuable teacher and coach for the school and for the staff."

Kates says she was later approached by a police officer who escorted her out of the school.

"Plaintiff was flabbergasted ... (and) believes and alleges that her termination was directly related to her race, ancestry and ethnic background as she was the only African-American physical education teacher," the suit reads.

Pamela Magee, Palisades Charter High Executive Director and Principal, responded to the allegations via email.

"PCHS is an equal opportunity employer, and we take allegations of discrimination seriously," she said. "We look forward to the opportunity to establish a complete and factually accurate account of the underlying events. Since this is a pending litigation, we have no further comment at this time."

City News Service and Kenan Draughorne contributed to this report.