Terminated SVCC dean files federal discrimination lawsuit

The former dean of Southside Virginia Community College is suing the school, accusing it of discrimination, retaliation, defamation and breach of contract.

Dr. Charlotte Berringer-Brown filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia alleging that the community college wrongfully fired her days after she notified her immediate supervisor and SVCC’s director of human resources that she planned to file a discrimination lawsuit and a retaliation complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She also alleges that the suspension was based on fabricated claims made against her by Caucasian teachers, falsified evaluations, and a pattern and practice of ignoring or violating school policies.

Berringer-Brown, SVCC’s former dean of humanities, social sciences and business, is seeking more than $1.65 million in compensatory damages and $850,000 in punitive damages.

In its motion to dismiss the amended complaint, SVCC argues that Barringer-Brown fails to allege facts to support the allegation of discrimination that they say is at the heart of her complaint. The college also claims she was fired for non-performance.

The original complaint was filed in June, but amended in August. In the amended complaint, Berringer-Brown, who is acting as her own attorney, outlined her experiences during her time at the school, which began on Dec. 5, 2022, and ended on Sept. 29, 2023.

Reached for comment, Berringer-Brown said she would “prefer not to discuss this case and let the documents and evidence speak for themselves.”

The Sun also reached out to the SVCC for comment on the case, including SVCC president Dr. Quentin Johnson, but did not receive a response by press time.

Berringer-Brown, who holds a psychology degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, a master’s degree in special education from Virginia State University, a doctorate in special education administration and supervision from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and a Ph.D. in public policy and administration with a concentration in law and public policy from Walden University, said in a statement that she had an excellent work history while at SVCC.

“During her employment at SVCC, Plaintiff, Dr. Berringer-Brown received positive feedback from her immediate supervisor, co-workers and the community … Berringer-Brown was also never subject to disciplinary action at SVCC,” the amended complaint states. .

Her academic credentials and honors are extensive and include serving as a tenured professor at two universities and receiving the 2023 State Council of Higher Education Virginia (SCHEV) Distinguished Faculty Administrator Award for outstanding achievement in teaching, research and public service.

Berringer-Brown alleges in her complaint that the discriminatory practices began within months of her hiring. The first case involved a “brutal, accusatory and unsubstantiated email” from Vice President for Academic Affairs and Human Resources Dr. Kate Harkins regarding allegations made against her by Senate President/President and Associate Professor of History Steven Walker, a state lawsuit. In addition, he alleges that Walker, who was supervised by Berringer-Brown, accused her of imposing protocols on faculty in her departments without their input.

Barringer-Brown claims that after that complaint, select Caucasian faculty members at SVCC were told to speak directly to human resources or Haskins if they felt they were being treated “unfairly” by Barringer-Brown.

Some of those faculty “did not meet with her or even introduce themselves to her before reporting directly to Dr. Harkins or SVCC Human Resources,” she wrote in the complaint.

In May 2023, Berringer-Brown said another Caucasian faculty member falsely accused her of improperly accessing their personnel file, while others accused her of retaliating, which she denies.

Other discriminatory actions she alleges were initiated by SVCC faculty, administration and staff include the failure to investigate her concerns of discrimination and retaliation, the failure to prepare full and complete evaluations of her performance, failure to follow protocols for administrative-level faculty evaluations, and the preparation of false evaluations, including one dated July 31, 2020, before she was hired, the second dated two weeks after her first hire, and the third dated June 31, 2023.

In their response to the amended complaint, SVCC’s attorneys dismiss the July 2020 date on the assessment form as nothing more than a typo, which they say has since been corrected.

In its motion to dismiss, SVCC claims that the Community College System of Virginia “was forced to terminate its employment relationship with (Behringer-Brown) just nine months into her probationary period because her performance did not meet their needs and expectations.”

A notice of intent to terminate that Berringer-Brown received from the college in September 2023 listed six reasons for her termination: failure to follow directions from her immediate supervisor, refusal to meet with faculty leadership to improve relations, failure to address performance issues, failure to hire faculty who have essential to the college’s mission, failure to arrange for absent faculty coverage and address student complaints, and as well as the failure to maintain a collegial environment with colleagues at SVCC, resulting in extreme levels of mistrust and estrangement between faculty and colleagues.

Examples provided by the defendant include an email exchange from February 2023 in which Berridger-Brown’s immediate supervisor, Dr. Keith Harkins, said he needed to clarify several issues. The defense says Berringer-Brown responded that Harkins’ email was “brutal, accusatory (and) unfounded” and accused Harkins of “numerous promotional and false attacks.”

In May 2023, according to SVCC, Berringer-Brown accused another school administrator, Shannon Fineman, SVCC’s vice president of finance and administration, of defamation of her character when she allegedly tried to mediate a complaint against Berringer-Brown and another teacher.

SVCC, in its motion to dismiss, further alleges that Barringer-Brown accused Harkins of threatening her during an attempt to evaluate her performance and telling her that there were “significant problems fostering a culture of success in (plaintiff’s) unit. »

Berringer-Brown filed an answer to SVCC’s motion to dismiss on September 18 and an amended answer on September 23. SVCC attorneys filed a response on September 24.

Before filing suit in federal district court, Berringer-Brown attempted to mediate her dispute with SVCC through the EEOC, but the college did not respond to the Commission’s request for mediation. On March 26, 2024, the EEOC issued a “right to sue” letter to Berringer-Brown. Additionally, the Virginia Employment Commission awarded her unemployment benefits in November 2023 after finding “no misconduct” on her part, the filing said.

The court will now decide whether to grant the defense’s motion to dismiss in whole or in part, or to stay the case for a continuance. U.S. District Judge Roderick Young, who is presiding over the case, has not set a deadline for ruling on the pending cases.