Plainfield Campus Monitors Say They Were Fired For Being Female

Plainfield, Ill. - Nearly 30,000 students in suburban Plainfield went back to school on Tuesday, but many of the campus security monitors did not. Half were laid off due to budget cuts, but the catch is that the majority of the monitors let go were female.

These women have been protesting School District 202 all summer long, determined to get their jobs back.

Until now, they were entrusted to patrol the hallways of the junior and senior high schools in Plainfield. Their job was to keep students in line, monitoring bathrooms, libraries, and parking lots, and presiding over detention.

None had ever thought their jobs were ever be in jeopardy, because their union agreement stated layoffs must be made by seniority.

"In the contract, it is very specific," Ann Bachman-Thomas of the Illinois Education Association said.

But still, they were let go: fired for being female, they said. Perhaps surprisingly, the school district doesn't seem to be arguing this point.

"We recently considered gender when we eliminated 26 campus monitor positions," said Tom Hernandez, District 202 Director of Community Relations.

Of those 26 positions, two thirds were held by women.

"I call that sexism," said Bachman-Thomas.

These laid-off women say almost all had more seniority and experience than nearly every single one of the male monitors allowed to keep their jobs.

"It is a slap in our face," said Patti Mills, a laid-off campus monitor.

District leaders declined to be interviewed by FOX Chicago News, but read from a prepared statement.

"Because of the duties of the positions, which can be gender sensitive... we made this decision in the interest of the student and staff safety," Hernandez said.

The district won't elaborate on what exactly that means, but the laid off monitors say it is clear.

"Some people have in their mind that big burly men are better than women," Mills said.

But even other male campus monitors like Paul Tebo agree with the women. Tebo is a former Plainfield campus monitor. He suspects female monitors were cut because of district perceptions that men are better equipped for the work. However, Tebo said he doesn't see anything that would make a male more successful at this job.

When rumblings of impending layoffs began last spring, Tebo quit and found another job. He figured that there was no change he'd be kept on, since he was pretty far down on the seniority list.

Just weeks later, he learned that male monitors with even less experience kept their jobs.

"I thought it was pretty unfair," Tebo said.

However, the district claims that they haven't done anything illegal.

"The law and cases interpreting the law," Hernandez said, "have allowed gender to be considered as a legitimate occupational qualification."

To add to that claim, the district recently updated its campus monitor job description by adding that "a proportional balance of male and female personnel is necessary."

The numbers for 2010-2011 school year show that about 53 percent of campus monitors are female and 47 percent are male. Last year, the figures stood at 60 percent female and 40 percent male.

"I don't see how the school district has any leg to stand on," said Anne Ladky, Executive Director of Women Employed. "I have never heard of someone justifying a discriminatory act on the basis that they want even numbers of men and women on the job."

Others agree.

"Setting aside some jobs for men and setting aside some jobs for women is blatantly discriminatory," said Ellen Yearwood, a civil attorney who has handled many gender discriminaton lawsuits in the past.

The laid off monitors have filed a labor grievance and are seeking arbitration. They have also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Rights. On Monday, they hired an attorney to represent them in a discrimination lawsuit.

The school district has now offered these women a three-hour-a-day shift monitoring school lunchrooms, but they say the pay is less than they would make on unemployment and does not include health insurance.

"There is no compromise," said Lisa Allen, a laid-off hall monitor.

Legal experts say this new job offer might solve the labor grievance, but it would not change the discrimination issue.

"It doesn't send a good message to any students and it certainly sends a terrible message to girls that arbitrary management action can result in real harm to women for no reason whatsoever," Ladky said.

Plainfield School District 202 says it's saving about $21 million through its Deficit Reduction Plan. However, the campus monitor cuts only account for about $600,000 of that total. The average monitor makes no more than $15,000 a year. According to experts, a prolonged series of legal battles connected to this controversy could end up costing the district far more than $400,000 if the women can successfully prove gender discrimination.

"It is a horrible feeling," Allison said, "I never thought, in this day and age, that I would have