Polk school district pays former equity officer $52,000 to settle discrimination complaint

Carol Wynn-Green worked for the state of Florida for nearly 26 years and for Polk County Public Schools for more than 10. She was expecting to retire there.

But in 2021, the 52-year-old equity and compliance analyst, whose job was to investigate allegations of inequities, began to suspect that sexism was at play within her own department. She said a male colleague with less seniority and fewer qualifications was given a 3% raise and a higher position while she and two other women in her department were left stagnant.

“I felt like for 10 and a half years, I've helped people with ADA accommodations,” Wynn-Green said. “I've helped people who called me on the phone or sat in my office and cried because things were happening to them in the district. And I tried my best to help every last person that called me or walked through that door. And here I sat as the equity person experiencing what I felt was inequity at the time.”

In October, the Polk district agreed to pay $52,272 to Wynn-Green to settle a complaint she filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Wynn-Green, who left the district for a job in Iowa in September 2021, filed the complaint in March. The settlement came after several rounds of mediation.

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A suspicious promotion

In the middle of 2021, Wynn-Green said she learned that her male colleague was applying for a directorial position that historically required a master’s degree, a level of education he had not yet attained at that time. When the job description changed to only require a bachelor’s degree, she said her female colleagues expressed interest but were met with roadblocks.

Wynn-Green said this appeared to be a clear violation of the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, which requires that an organization pay men and women the same wage for positions that carry out tasks that demand similar responsibilities and are subject to comparable working conditions.

Wynn-Green took the issue to her supervisor, Chandra Hall, whom she said was encouraging and supportive. But Wynn-Green said the district’s leadership was dismissive.

“I felt like some people at the district thought that they could do what they wanted to do,” she said. “And so, even though Chandra had gone to bat for me, so to speak, it was met with no response.”

Hall, who is senior director of equity and diversity management, attested to Wynn-Green’s stellar performance during her tenure as an associate, saying “she was a great and outstanding employee.” However, Hall said she was not allowed to speak on the matter specifically and deferred to PCPS’s legal team.

Wynn-Green decided her only choice was to leave the district. In August 2021, she interviewed for an equity and inclusion program manager position at the public school system in her native Iowa and was offered the job the next day. In her August 20, 2021, resignation letter, she made mention of inequities at the district.

“I have learned that equitable treatment is not always provided to all, even to those like myself who work in/for equity,” Wynn-Green wrote.

She filed her EEOC complaint in March.

School district touts diversity

In a public statement, Kyle Kennedy, senior coordinator for media relations for PCPS, said the district has a healthy diversity and that more than 70% of PCPS employees are either Hispanic, Black or multiracial.

“Women account for the majority of our workforce, and they serve in leadership roles throughout the district,” he said by email, making no mention of pay equity among staff members.

When asked to address PCPS’s position on salary equity in lateral roles, Kennedy wrote, “An employee’s compensation is based on their experience, qualifications and responsibilities; whether they are male or female is not a factor.”

Wynn-Green said that’s not what she experienced.

“In my experience, the pay that was provided was absolutely not based on any of that,” she said referring to her male colleague’s raise. “It was not a matter of having a degree. It was not a matter of seniority because if it was, I had been there about a year and a half longer than my male counterpart. There was no legitimate reason for the pay increase that was being provided.”

Wynn-Green said she was not the only one facing gender discrimination. Furthermore, she said there were few other instances where she had witnessed job descriptions changing without clear reason.

“I recall a board meeting years ago, with two board members, at least, commenting on it,” Wynn-Green said. “I just remember the education requirement was being lowered from a master’s to a bachelor’s. And I remember two of those board members question, ‘Why are we lowering the education on these positions?’”

Wynn-Green said there were other unwarranted modifications made that she witnessed, like title changes ­– which also can’t be made without board or leadership approval. She said she believes these changes are made with specific people in mind, as was the case for her male colleague.

She hopes her settlement agreement could eventually end these practices.

PCPS general counsel and other officials involved in the case were contacted by Ledger staff but did not respond to inquiries.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk schools pay former equity officer $52,000 to settle equity case