Discrimination and emotional harassment at work

amother

OP ↓

Wed, May 29 2024, 9:26 pm

Hi,

I am the only Jewish person working at a specific NYC public school. The school is also 99% a different race and ethnicity than me. I'm verbally attacked for everything I do, by several people at the school. The comments have not been specifically anti-semitic, but they are constantly attacking my character. The accusations are always baseless, as I do a great job, go above and beyond in my work, and am very friendly to everyone.

Should I exercise my legal rights by submitting a complaint to the Office of Equal Opportunity alleging anti-semitic discrimination at work? Or should I just continue being attacked on baseless grounds, because I'm afraid of "the push-back" from the school?

Thank you in advance.

amother

Mocha

Wed, May 29 2024, 9:30 pm

amother OP wrote:

I once went through this and decided to say nothing even though I came home crying every day. I finally reached my breaking point and broke down at work and then quit that day

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, May 29 2024, 9:46 pm

Thank you so much for the replies so far. It is very validating hearing that others here have been through this, especially when my coworkers are on a campaign to convince me I'm bad.

This is the job I'm trained to do. I have a lot of experience at another NYC public school, where I was treated very warmly. I just had to move to this less diverse school when I had a baby and therefore had to take a position closer to home.

I'm not ready to give up my career and this is my current placement. I just need to decide whether to be brave and stand up for myself by submitting a complaint, or continue to be their doormat.

Thank you again for all your support. It means so much, especially while going through this.

P.S. The fact that a few people here had to quit their jobs due to the harassment, proves how much discrimination Jewish people face at work, and the devastating effects it has on us.

CPenzias

Wed, May 29 2024, 9:54 pm

I'm a nyc public school teacher too. I would put everything in writing. Document what is being said, who is saying it, date etc. And you can file with oeo but you probably need a lot of proof.
It sounds like you're tenured so I'd open my mouth. Sorry you're going through this.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, May 29 2024, 9:59 pm

CPenzias wrote:

Thanks! I'm civil service, so I can't be fired.
I agree that Jewish people need to open our mouths more about these types of things. I've opened my mouth within the schools I've worked in for the past two years. That itself was a huge step for me, and I felt really good when I did that. Now I need to be brave enough to escalate higher, since the school is continuing to perpetuate the problem.

amother

Khaki

Wed, May 29 2024, 10:12 pm

I work in the public school system too. So hard that you are going thru this. Document everything. And from stories I have heard from others, sometimes when they push back a little and escalate a complaint the harassment does stop because the principal doesn't want to get in trouble. Obviously its no guarantee but why should you suffer without standing up for yourself? Is there a union rep or someone outside the school that can help you and guide you?

amother

↑ OP

Wed, May 29 2024, 10:20 pm

amother Khaki wrote:

Thank you so much, this is very encouraging. I contacted the district rep once. I told him I'm not being treated fairly, because I'm a different religion, ethnicity and race from the rest of the school community. He said then contact OEO. I still waited because there was some mediation planned within the school at that time. The mediation resolved the problem with one person, but there are three people in the school that have been attacking my character. These 3 people are all friends with each other, so it stands to reason that they're gossiping about me behind my back. They each attack me individually when they interact with me.