RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A former North Carolina charter school principal says in a lawsuit that he was fired after two months for hiring a culturally diverse staff and his COVID-19 mask mandate.
Brian Bauer, who filed the lawsuit against Charter Schools USA, said he was hired to lead Cardinal Charter Academy, a tuition-free, K-8 public charter school in Cary, in mid-July, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported. Charter Schools USA is the school’s parent company.
Bauer was fired around Sept. 2, shortly after the start of the school year, according to the lawsuit. He accuses school officials of firing him “for his hiring of racially diverse staff and/or his insistence on enforcement of the school’s Reopening Plan,” which included a school-wide mask mandate and quarantine requirements for students in certain circumstances.
Bauer claims in the lawsuit that his firing was a violation of state policy against racial discrimination in employment, and state guidelines on masking in schools. Bauer also says his firing breached an “implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing” in his contract.
Tory Summey, an attorney for Charter Schools USA, told the newspaper in an email Friday the company cannot comment on active litigation.