Northern California teacher files suit for alleged discrimination against whites

(FOX40.COM) — A Northern California teacher recently filed a lawsuit against an education union over its alleged refusal to allow him to run for a seat on its board because of his race.

Isaac Newman, a teacher at Florin High School in Sacramento, filed the lawsuit May 24 and names the Elk Grove Education Association as a defendant. According to the filing, the teachers union created a seat on its board of directors that is only open to members who identify with certain racial groups; African American (Black), Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Latino (including Puerto Rican), Asian, Arab, and Middle Eastern.

The new position is called “BIPOC Director At-Large” and carries all the rights and privileges of an EGEA board member, according to the lawsuit. BIPOC is commonly known as the acronym for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

“Plaintiff Isaac Newman is a white EGEA member who wishes to run for union office to address the district's recent adoption of what he considers diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) aggressive and unnecessary,” the lawsuit reads. “But as a white person, he is racially disqualified from holding the BIPOC position.”

The lawsuit accuses the union of racial discrimination by categorically providing fewer opportunities for white people to gain union office than non-white EGEA members.