DSUSD Slapped with Race Discrimination Lawsuit

Race Discrimination Lawsuit Follows Numerous Internal Complaints

PALM DESERT — A race discrimination lawsuit has been filed in Riverside County Superior Court against Desert Sands Unified School District on behalf of Ashley Gervin, one of very few black educators in all of DSUSD and the only black Instructional Coach.

As the COVID-19 pandemic set in in March 2020, Gervin—a high-risk asthmatic since childhood—feared for her life if she were forced to return to work amongst hundreds of people in person, according to the lawsuit. Her doctor ordered her to work remotely starting in March 2021, when the District was transitioning most students and staff back to the in-person setting. The District was initially undecided about this request for accommodation, denying it, then granting it from April 29, 2021, to the end of that school year (June 2021), after it was learned that other (non-black) employees across the District were allowed to work remotely, according to the lawsuit.

Tamara Wadkins, public information officer for DSUSD, said the District does not comment on pending litigation.

In August 2021, Gervin, 43, sought renewal of that accommodation as the school year was about to begin, again based on her doctor’s order. However, from that point forward, the District consistently denied the remote work accommodation, blaming an inflexible policy that Dr. Gervin’s position should be performed on-site only, as well as a concern that it would open the floodgates for other employees to work remotely. DSUSUD changed its reasoning from September through November 2021, when it over-zealously sought to attain Gervin’s private medical information and challenge her doctor’s orders, even though the accommodation had already been denied for different reasons, according to the lawsuit.

Moreover, according to the lawsuit, from April 2021 forward, and especially in the 2022-2023 school year, DSUSD allegedly engaged in an ongoing campaign of retaliation against Gervin, wherein it stripped her of prestigious and hard-earned work benefits, essentially demoting her, assigning away her duties, removing her from interview panels and extra assignment committees, reducing her pay,
and even moving her office repeatedly. “Gervin continues to work under the constant scrutiny and negative animus of her boss, Principal Jose Ramirez, and continues to suffer retaliation on an ongoing basis,” according to the lawsuit.

“This case is about an outstanding and highly educated professional —Dr. Ashley Gervin — who despite receiving accolades for her nearly two decades of performance at Desert Sands, was forced to endure unremediated, ongoing and systemic race discrimination over that entire period,” Megan Beaman Jacinto, who is representing Gervin, told Uken Report. “Desert Sands also repeatedly denied Dr. Gervin accommodation for her asthma disability in 2020 and 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.  For years, Dr. Gervin optimistically reported her experiences, believing that the District would take action to correct practices and protect her.  Unfortunately, the District instead ignored, invalidated, and isolated Dr. Gervin, until she realized her efforts were futile.”

Beaman Jacinto overcame a motion to dismiss successfully, and the judge ordered the case will go to trial in January.