Unit 5 has reached a settlement with a former employee who alleged the school district failed to protect her from sexual harassment and then retaliated against her when she raised concerns.
The federal lawsuit was filed in December 2020 by Lanell Greenberg, who worked for Unit 5 in various roles until she resigned in 2018. Greenberg alleged that she was sexually harassed by Unit 5’s then-director of HR, James Harden, and that then-Superintendent Mark Daniel retaliated against her. The district and Harden have denied those allegations. Harden and Daniel have since left Unit 5.
A settlement has now been reached, according to court records filed Monday following a settlement conference. That settlement is pending approval by the Unit 5 school board. The terms of the settlement are not yet publicly known.
An attorney for Greenberg declined to comment until after the lawsuit was formally dismissed, which is expected to happen by June 30. Unit 5 did not respond to a request for comment.
Unit 5 hired Harden in July 2017. In her lawsuit, Greenberg claimed she was subsequently exposed to “repeated comments and gestures of a sexually explicit nature” by Harden. She accused Unit 5 of violating her civil rights by failing to address the issues and failing to provide a “work environment free of sexual harassment.”
In a court filing responding to the lawsuit, Unit 5 denied both the accusations of harassment and retaliation. Even if she was harassed, Unit 5 said it “took both preventative and corrective steps to address any sexually harassing behavior” and that Greenberg “failed to take advantage” of the district’s policies and procedures to make a report of sexual harassment.
“Nonetheless, the district investigated and took prompt corrective action when it became aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct in the workplace,” the district said.
Indeed, there were multiple investigations into Harden’s conduct, WGLT previously reported. Harden ultimately resigned in 2019, including what he called a “healthy severance” payout. Harden said he experienced racial insensitivity and “professional sabotage” while on the job.
