Evergreen School District Discrimination

Hagens Berman represented Ms. Uelmen, a former Associate Principal who sued the Evergreen School District, alleging a hostile work environment, gender discrimination and unlawful retaliation.

In the lawsuit,  Ms. Uleman allegedly faced retaliation for reporting sexual impropriety on the part of a male Associate Principal named Tim Dotson and chronic absenteeism on the part of her male supervisor – a former Cascade Middle School Principal named Gary Price.

Evergreen School District's internal records obtained during the lawsuit verify that Ms. Uelmen’s reports regarding her two male colleagues were investigated by the district and confirmed to be true. However, at the conclusion of the 2012-2013 academic year, Ms. Uelmen was demoted by Evergreen School District superintendent, John Deeder. 

During the lawsuit, Evergreen School District representatives testified that these two male administrators operated under a different, more advantageous set of rules than those applied to Ms. Uelmen.

After the allegations surfaced, Mr. Dotson was placed on paid administrative leave for nearly 16 months before being allowed to resign his role as associate principal.

Mr. Deeder elected to demote Mr. Price to the role of Associate Principal despite the recommendation from Evergreen School District investigators that Mr. Price be terminated. According to public records, Mr. Price presently works as an associate principal at a high school making nearly $125,000 a year – a more than $10,000 per year pay increase from his salary as a school principal.    

Ms. Uelmen was represented by Marty McLean of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Brad Davis of the Bradley G. Davis Law Office, both located in Seattle.