$15M Will Settle Florida Teachers Racial Bias Class Action

The Florida Department of Education has agreed to a $15.5 million class action settlement to resolve claims that the state’s Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program illegally discriminates against African American and Hispanic teachers.

The scholarship program reportedly provides bonuses to teachers who the Florida Department of Education deems “highly effective” and who scored in the 80th percentile or higher on their SAT or ACT tests. The program started in 2015.

According to the Florida Education Association, a Florida teachers’ union which served as plaintiff in the 2017 racial bias class action lawsuit, the scholarship program had a “disparate impact” on African American and Hispanic teachers.

Disparate impact refers to employment policies or practices which seem neutral but actually have a discriminatory effect on protected workers. Under Title VII, protected “classes” of workers include those categorized by race or sex.

According to the racial bias class action, the scholarship program had a disparate impact because African American and Hispanic teachers won a disproportionate number of bonuses.

African American and Hispanic teachers reportedly each make up 13 percent of the Florida Department of Education system. Despite this, African American teachers allegedly won only one percent of the bonuses while Hispanic teachers won only four percent.

Both parties filed for summary judgement in the racial bias class action, but both motions were denied in December 2018. After this, the state appealed in the Eleventh Circuit but, while pending, a deal was reached.

The Florida teacher racial bias class action settlement will resolve claims that the state’s education department violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

The $15.5 million settlement would cover payments of up to $10,000 for Class representatives and provide up to 15 percent of the settlement fund to cover court costs, administrative costs, and attorneys’ fees. The remaining funds would reportedly be distributed amongst two settlement Classes.

The first Class would include all African American classroom teachers who were rated as highly effective but were not provided with bonuses under the scholarship program. The second Class would be similar to the first but would include Hispanic classroom teachers who were passed over for bonuses.

The racial bias class action settlement will also require the Florida Department of Education to remove the test score requirements from the Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program. Florida governor Ron DeSantis reportedly did away with this requirement in May after the settlement was reached in April.

Were you discriminated against by the Florida Department of Education based on your race? Share your experiences in the comment section below!

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The teachers are represented by John Davis of the Law Office of John C. Davis and Kent Spriggs of Spriggs Law Firm.

The Florida Teacher Racial Bias Class Action Lawsuit is Florida Education Association, et al. v. State of Florida Department of Education, et al., Case No. 4:17-cv-00414, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

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