Discrimination lawsuit filed against Turkish-run charter school
Truebright Science Academy supporters hold their posters high at the SRC hearing. It is one of more than 130 charters nationwide run by followers of a Turkish imam that are drawing scrutiny. (Steven M. Falk / Staff Photographer)
A former English teacher at Truebright Science Academy Charter School has filed a civil rights suit alleging the Turkish-run charter discriminated against employees based on gender and national origin.
Regenna A. Jalon, who worked at the North Philadelphia school for four years, said in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in late February the school engaged in a pattern of hiring, promoting, and paying less-qualified Turkish nationals more than American-born educators who were certified and had more experience.
A Truebright lawyer said the school denied any wrongdoing when the suit surfaced during a hearing Thursday on the charter school's renewal.
Jalon was one of at least nine Truebright staffers who filed initial discrimination complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2011. She filed her suit in federal court after the EEOC issued a letter in January that said she could