New York Teacher Accused of Racist Noose Pic Alleges Anti-White Racism
Nancy Jones Doering claims she was exonerated of any misconduct, but that colleagues and district authorities continue to target her “because of her race.”
A white Long Island, New York public school teacher accused of displaying a racially offensive image in her classroom, causing a national outcry and prompting calls to fire anyone involved, claims she was cleared of all wrongdoing—but claims vengeful Black colleagues and school district officials have continued to persecute her “because of her race.”
SUMMARY
- Nancy Jones Doering has been charged with presenting a racially inappropriate image—Racist Noose Pic with “back to school necklaces.” Alleging Anti-White Racism
- Clearance: In October 2022, Doering claims to be free of all accusations, including evidence tampering.
- Persecution Claim: Despite clearance, Doering claims he is still being persecuted by Black coworkers and district officials due to racial bigotry.
- Doering sues the school system, alleging defiance of directions, isolation, and substitution with a Black educator.
- Harassment incidents include graffiti, racial slurs, and ongoing discriminatory behavior. Complaints were filed with HR and the EEOC.
- Legal Action: A lawsuit alleging racial discrimination, retaliation, and slander by the school district seeks unspecified damages and a court order barring further prejudice.
New York State Supreme Court
Anti-White Racism
The photograph, which was part of a bigger exhibit showcasing instructors and students, depicted a pair of hangman’s nooses with the slogan “back to school necklaces.” The image also had the text “Ha Ha” and “#YES,” as well as a pink smiling face. The school district blamed the collage on a “isolated group of teachers,” claiming that “appropriate action” had been taken.
“A clear message needs to be sent that there is simply no place in our schools or in our society for this type of racist, hateful, and insensitive imagery,” Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen said in a statement after the event. Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton responded on social media, calling the photos “racist and sickening.” Pastor Arthur Mackey Jr. of nearby Mount Sinai Baptist Church received a photo of the mosaic. While the suicide aspect of the photographs was problematic, Mackey told CBS News at the time that the noose images were “pure, outright, discrimination, whether they realize it or not.”
Three teachers were suspended, and two without tenure were ultimately sacked. Their names were never made public.
In a shocking lawsuit received by The Daily Beast, longstanding social studies instructor Nancy Jones Doering has revealed herself as one of the accusers. In the case, Doering, 48, claims that in October 2022, a hearing officer cleared her of all accusations, including tampering with the inquiry by concealing evidence, and ordered her reinstatement. Jones Doering, on the other hand, not only claims she has been isolated from pupils, but also that she lives “in constant anxiety, stress, and daily fear to herself and her family,” as a result of ongoing “false, fabricated, and uncorroborated accusations and claims” that she is a “white supremacist.”
On Monday, calls from The Daily Beast to Jones Doering’s cell phone went directly to voicemail. She later responded back, verifying it was her and asking what the question was about. Jones Doering abruptly stopped replying when The Daily Beast inquired about her lawsuit over the noose collage.
Rudy Dermesropian , Nancy Jones Doering’s attorney, did not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment.
The entire situation originates from a simple misunderstanding, according to Jones Doering’s lawsuit, which states that the school district “is primarily composed of Black and African American members, while Claimant is White.”
On February 6, 2019, the Roosevelt Union Free School District received notification of “an offensive and racially infused collage… on display” in an unnamed teacher’s classroom at Roosevelt Middle School, which Jones Doering claims was not hers, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that administrators from the school system went to “that other teacher’s classroom and inspected the collage, but failed to remove it or instruct that teacher to remove it.”
The next day, Jones Doering “went into that other classroom to leave lesson plans for the students and saw the collage,” according to the lawsuit. “When Plaintiff saw that collage, she noticed the offensive nature of its content, and removed it from the classroom so that students and staff members are [sic] not exposed to it.”
Jones Doering then took the collage “back into her classroom and placed it in a locked cabinet.”
On February 8, 2019, the other teacher informed Jones Doering, the teachers’ union representative at Roosevelt Middle School—the alma mater of iconic Public Enemy vocalist Chuck D—that she had been summoned to a meeting with Human Resources and urged her to accompany her, according to the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, both the other instructor and Jones Doering were given suspension letters there, and Jones Doering was “[s]hocked of [sic] this turn of events.”
Jones Doering was legally accused of three things: exhibiting the noose collage in her classroom, interfering with an inquiry by removing the collage and storing it in her closet, and attracting “negative attention to the school,” according to the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, the backlash was instantaneous, with “defamatory and slanderous comments and accusations” about Jones Doering flooding social media.
According to her lawsuit, Jones Doering claims that she “neither created nor displayed any racist collage or image in her classroom, nor did she assist anyone in doing so, and Defendants were very much aware of that since they knew who created the collage and who displayed it, but yet maliciously and intentionally publically made false statements about [her].”
Jones Doering, as a tenured teacher, was entitled to a 3020a hearing, which required the school district to demonstrate “just cause” before firing someone. The proceedings spanned 3.5 years and culminated with a presentation before New York State’s Teacher Tenure Hearing Unit, during which the school district “presented their best and strongest evidence and witnesses,” according to the lawsuit.
“The Hearing Officer issued an Opinion and Decision on October 14, 2022 exonerating [Jones Doering] of all Charges and accusations,” according to the report, “dismissing all such Charges and specifications in their entirety, and ordered Defendants to immediately reinstate [her] to her position as a social studies teacher at the Roosevelt Middle School.”
However, Jones Doering’s lawsuit claims that the school district “ignored such orders.” When she refused to resign, the district “forced her into an isolated small office, without any windows, without any ability to lock her door for safety reasons, defamed and publicly shamed her, and stripped her of all her duties and responsibilities.” According to the lawsuit, the district replaced her in the classroom with a new Black social studies instructor.
“Defendants have targeted [Jones Doering] because of her race and have even invited and encouraged members of the community, including Reverend Mackey, to publicly attack, defame, shame, and harass [her],” the lawsuit alleges, noting that no Black teachers were “publicly defamed and had her reputation and name destroyed based on such false accusations.”
(Mackey, who has continued to push for Jones Doering’s dismissal but no longer refers to her by name on social media—and appears to have deleted any posts that did, for unknown reasons—did not reply to a request for comment on Monday.)
“Even [Jones Doering’s] car was vandalized in the parking lot on school property and no action was taken by Defendants to either investigate this attack or to take appropriate measures to ensure [her] safety,” according to the complaint. “On January 12, 2023, members of the School District were also seen writing racist comments against [Jones Doering] on a white board in an open area stating, ‘white supremacy is a hell of a drug.'”
Jones Doering claims in her lawsuit that she promptly reported the whiteboard incident to HR and filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the United States last June. Jones Doering, on the other hand, claims that nothing has been done “to ensure [she] is not subjected to similar and ongoing discrimination and harassment.”
“In fact, since the School District initiated its purported investigation, different teachers at the school have been heard by [Jones Doering] adversely referring to [her] and speaking to her so as to constantly harass and intimate [sic] her,” according to the complaint.
Jones Doering’s lawsuit claims that “other employees who are Black/African American” were not “terminated, suspended, reprimanded, charged with any violation, or had their duties and responsibilities stripped away,” as hers were.
In it, she states that her “entire career, reputation and profession was [sic] permanently damaged and forever adversely stained,” in part due to the school district’s “actions, inactions and discriminatory and retaliatory agenda against her.” The lawsuit also says she has suffered financial injury, reputational harm, and “serious emotional and psychological injuries” for which she has been seeing a psychotherapist since January 2023.
According to the lawsuit, Jones Doering has spent the last five years “living in constant anxiety, stress, and daily fear to herself and her family.”
The school district, the Roosevelt Board of Education, and at least ten unidentified individuals are accused of racial discrimination, retaliation, promoting a hostile work environment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent supervision, and defamation for “falsely portray[ing]… [Jones Doering] as a racist teacher in a community that is mostly composed of Black/African American members and who allegedly displays ‘nooses’ in her
She is seeking a jury trial as well as unspecified compensatory, prospective, exemplary, and punitive damages, lost compensation, incentives, and fringe benefits, as well as a court order prohibiting the school system from engaging in “further discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.”
Roosevelt Union Free School District officials did not return a request for comment on Monday. The district has yet to respond to Jones Doering’s complaint in writing.
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