White California teacher wins racial discrimination lawsuit against teachers’ union

When a local California teachers’ union discriminated against white educators, one teacher refused to take it lying down.

High school social science educator Isaac Newman filed a lawsuit in May against the Elk Grove Education Association (EGEA) for denying him a leadership role because he is white. The lawsuit details how EGEA created a new “BIPOC” representative position for its executive board in 2023.

The union specified the BIPOC representative had to “self-identify [as] African American (Black), Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawai’ian, Pacific Islander, Latino (including Puerto Rican), Asian, Arab, [or] Middle Eastern.”

Despite wanting to run for union office, Newman was effectively disqualified by his race.

He argued the union was violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and California law forbidding racial discrimination – and won.

The U.S. District Court entered a judgment last week in Newman’s favor, requiring EGEA to pay $12,000 which Newman says he will donate to a local scholarship fund.

“I’m delighted that my lawsuit forced union officials to admit something every high school student knows: Racial segregation is wrong,” he said in a press release. “I hope this victory returns union officials’ focus to representing all teachers, rather than dividing us based on race.”

Despite previously accusing the case of being “backed by an outside extremist group to sow fear and division in our community,” EGEA hastily surrendered and changed its board requirements.

“Based on union officials’ immediate capitulation to Isaac’s demands, it’s clear that they thought they didn’t have a legal leg to stand on to defend their segregated board seat,” said Nathan McGrath, Newman’s representative and president of the Fairness Center.

Now that the lawsuit is settled, Newman can pursue his original goal once again.

“I will continue my fight to hold the union accountable to the letter and the spirit of the law by running for the union’s new board seat on a platform of true fairness and equal representation for all members, regardless of race,” he concluded.