U.S. Attorney Files Discrimination Lawsuit Against Port Chester-Rye Union Free School District

A federal lawsuit was filed today against the Port Chester-Rye school district, charging the district discriminated against a former school psychologist because she was pregnant.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said the district violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

"Discrimination against women in the workforce who choose to have children cannot be tolerated," Bharara said. "All employees, men and women, shold be evaluated based on their performance, not their decision to have children."

The lawsuit filed by Bharara's office cites the case of Patricia Bevilacqua, who started her career with the school district in 2001 as a school psychologist. In 2002, Bevilacqua was named chairwoman of the district's Committee on Special Education, which is a full-time post that includes a stippend.

The lawsuit focuses on the handling of the committee chairmanship since Bevilacqua's marriage in 2003 and then through her maternity leave in 2005 and her eventual demotion in the 2006-2007 school year.

Patch has connected the school district for comment about the lawsuit, but has not yet received a response.

Here's a timeline of events in the case, according to court documents:

September 2001: Bevilacqua hired as a school psychologist.

April 2002: Bevilacqua appointed chairwoman of the Committee on Special Education (CSE).

April 2003: Bevilacqua re-appointed chairwoman of the CSE.

December 2003: Bevilacqua is married.

Early 2004: Bevilacqua's supervisors openly speculate about her plans to have children, suggesting she consider stepping down as CSE chairwoman.

June 2004: Bevilacqua re-appointed chairwoman of the CSE.

May 2005: Bevilacqua, while pregnant, re-applied for post of CSE chair. As her application was pending, she was informed a male school psychologist would serve as interim CSE chair until she returned from maternity leave in 2006.

January 2006: Althobugh Bevilacqua was officially re-appointed CSE chairwoman, she learned the male employee was still serving as CSE chair and later in the same month the school board transferred the stippend for the position to the male employee. Also, the male employee was given scheduling accommodations allowing that were never offered to Bevilacqua.

May 2006: Bevilacqua, who was pregnant again, re-applied for the CSE chair post.

July 2006: Bevilacqua was informed she was not going to be offered the CSE chair for the 2006-2007 school year and would be demoted to the position of school pscyhologist. The post was offered to the male employee. The lawsuit contends Bevilacqua's supervisor advised her that this arrangement would be better because she could not spend more time with her children.

Bharara said the lawsuit seeks action by the school district to prevent employment discrimination based on gender. The lawsuit also seeks compensatory damages for Bevilacqua for the loss she suffered as a result of the discrimination charged in the case.