Unit 5 is likely to pay $28,500 to a former employee to settle a lawsuit alleging 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.
Unit 5’s school board is expected to vote on the settlement at Wednesday’s meeting. The terms of the settlement were released Tuesday. WGLT reported in May that a settlement had been reached, though the terms were not known until now.
Unit 5 will pay out $28,500, split between attorneys’ fees ($9,900) and back pay ($18,600) that “would have been paid had (Greenberg) successfully prosecuted her claims,” according to the settlement. In exchange, Greenberg will drop her lawsuit.
“The (school) board denies and has denied any and all fault, wrongdoing, and liability to (Greenberg), and denies that (Greenberg) is entitled to any award and relief,” the settlement reads.
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 resigned in 2019, including receiving what he called a “healthy severance” payout. Harden said he experienced racial insensitivity and “professional sabotage” while on the job.
