Teacher Sues Morris County District Over Alleged Discrimination

RANDOLPH, NJ — A longtime Randolph Township School District math teacher is suing the district and its administration, alleging that her recent retirement was a "constructive discharge" motivated by age and disability discrimination.

Tracey Silverschotz, 59, who had been teaching at Randolph Middle School for more than 20 years, filed a lawsuit against the Randolph School District and Board of Education, Superintendent Jennifer Fano, Middle School Principal David Kricheff, along with unnamed "John Does."

The claim, filed on Aug. 11 in the state Superior Court in Morristown, demands unspecified damages as well as attorney's costs, front and back pay, and any other relief as the Court deems to be just and equitable.

According to the lawsuit, Silverschotz sustained hearing loss in both ears while working for the district. She has total hearing loss in her right ear and 50 percent hearing loss in her left ear.

Silverschotz asserts that she was turned down when she asked to fill a vacancy for an academic skills math teacher position in 2020. The role would have required her to teach in smaller class sizes, allowing her to better manage her hearing loss.

Silverschotz was "undisputedly qualified for the Academic Math Teacher position," according to the complaint because she had previously spent four years teaching classes as an Academic Skills Math Teacher in the district.

The new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math ("STEM") Supervisor, Melissa Strype, however, told Silverschotz that she could not be considered for the position "just because it would help [her] hearing issues," and that the position would be given to the "most qualified candidate."

The lawsuit details Silverschotz's teaching tenure at Randolph Middle School, where she began as a substitute teacher in 2001 and was hired full-time the following year.

According to the lawsuit, Silverschotz was nominated for "Teacher of the Year" seven times and received tenure in or about the 2005–2006 school year.

"Despite Plaintiff’s prior experience as an academic skills math teacher as well as many years of overall experience as a middle school math teacher, Strype instructed Plaintiff not to apply for the position." As such, Plaintiff was not even given an opportunity to be interviewed," the lawsuit states.

Rather, another instructor with no prior teaching experience in that position was offered the role. According to the lawsuit, this was partially because of the candidates' younger age and lack of disabilities.

Silverschotz applied for disability retirement in March 2020 after being rejected for the position in February 2020, with her retirement reliant on the granting of her claim. Silverschotz took a medical leave while waiting for a decision on her application due to the pandemic and her particular health risk as a Type II diabetic, according to the lawsuit.

Her medical retirement application was refused in October 2020, and she sought to return to work with a doctor's letter indicating her need for "reasonable accommodations." Those included a smaller classroom, the installation of amplification equipment to help her hear children better and a daily time allotment so that she could check her glucose levels and administer insulin as needed.

While Silverschotz was eventually granted some of her requested accommodations, the district intended to retain a 22-year-old teacher who had been hired as a long-term substitute teacher, and Silverschotz was assigned to work as a "floater," filling in for absent instructors on an as-needed basis, according to her complaint.

The new role required her to walk from classroom to classroom across the school building.

At the time Silverschotz returned to work in November 2020, she was told by Strype that she was being placed on an improvement plan and could not be taken off the plan because she did not have regular class assignments during the school year.

The district placed Silverschotz on a corrective action plan for the next school year, and her wage increase for the 2022–2023 school year was "correspondingly withheld," according to the lawsuit.

"It appears that despite me successfully satisfying all the items on my plan, it was predetermined that I would be put on a CAP this year. The environment surrounding this whole process has been extremely hostile and my supervisor is clearly targeting me based on my personal characteristics," Silverschotz said.

Other issues arose during the year, including allegations that she persuaded a student to speak on her behalf, according to the lawsuit. Silverschotz claims she told the student many times that her offer of aid was unnecessary and attempted to re-direct the conversation, but her explanation of what had happened was ignored.

On or about Jan. 25, 2023, Silverschotz emailed Kevin Bullock, the district's Human Resources Director, complaining about an ongoing pattern of discrimination and retaliation against her because of her age, known disabilities, and prior requests for reasonable accommodations.

"It is clear that I am being set up for failure and that my working conditions are hostile. I am an experienced and dedicated teacher and believe that as a person working with known disabilities, I also serve as a role model for my students," Silverschotz's email wrote. "Yet, sadly, it is clear that rather than recognize my many contributions to the Randolph School District’s educational community, the District is determined to 'paper' my file with whatever they can come up with in order to force me out for discriminatory and retaliatory reasons."

Silverschotz eventually submitted for retirement on April 28 of this year after knowing that her final CAP report would show she had failed to fix reported problems.

Silverschotz said that during a meeting, Kricheff advised her that if she were to resign or retire, it all "goes away," meaning that she would be able to avoid the initiation of tenure charges against her.

In response to the complaint, Eric L. Harrison, the Randolph Board of Education's attorney, stated, "We are not at liberty to comment on the merits of the allegations by Ms. Silverschotz, but we look forward to defending them in court."

The Randolph Township School District is a comprehensive community public school system consisting of six schools that serve children in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Randolph, in Morris County.