Former Brentwood teacher settles lawsuit against school district

Former Brentwood Middle School teacher Elizabeth Kandrac settled her racial hostility lawsuit against the Charleston County School District out of court Monday for $200,000, ending a three-year legal battle in what her attorney called a historic case.

Kandrac, who is white, sued the district, charging that she worked in a racially hostile environment at the predominantly black school and its staff failed to take her complaints seriously. A federal jury initially sided with Kandrac and awarded her $307,500 in damages.

The district then asked a federal judge to throw out the monetary damages, grant a new trial or reduce the damages. The judge upheld the verdict but said a new trial on the damages was appropriate.

Monday's announcement of an out-of-court settlement made the new trial unnecessary.

"We'd like to think it meant something and that the school district got the message that this can't happen again," said Larry Kobrovsky, Kandrac's attorney. "The measure of whether we succeeded is if they actually create conditions in schools where teachers are not abused."

Kandrac plans to use part of the money to establish a $500 annual scholarship for a Brentwood rising ninth-grader who shows character and citizenship.

She said she accepted the settlement because her goal was to have the problem exposed and that happened. Kandrac hopes teachers no longer will be afraid to go to work or speak out if they encounter racial harassment and students will not have to tolerate such learning environments, she said.

She said she'd like to go back to teaching, and the case hasn't changed her belief that she would be an asset to a classroom.

Alice Paylor, attorney for the school district, said the decision to settle was a business one led by the district's insurance company.

Kobrovsky called the case historic because it was the first time a federal judge found that a school was a racially hostile place to teach. He plans to donate trial transcripts and evidence to the Charleston School of Law and the county library.

Kobrovsky said he receives calls daily from teachers who say they are beat up and cursed at, and the district hasn't made changes to improve those situations.

Charleston County schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson said she believes Kandrac was harassed but didn't think it was of a racial nature. She said the district has taken action to correct issues at Brentwood, including reconstituting the school two years ago, adding more staff and starting the Positive Behavior Support program.

She said the district doesn't have evidence that similar incidences are happening at other schools, and initiatives are in place to ensure it doesn't happen elsewhere. Goodloe-Johnson said she wouldn't expect any teacher to tolerate such an environment, and teachers should use the chain of command to report such situations.

Reach Diette Courrégé at dcourrege@postandcourier.com or 937-5546.