Greenwich readies $18K settlement for Black school security guard who alleged discrimination
Greenwich CT February 16 2023 Town officials are preparing to settle a lawsuit brought by a Black Greenwich High School security guard who alleged discrimination by fellow town employees.
On Wednesday, the town’s Board of Estimate and Taxation Budget Committee voted 4-0 to recommend an $18,000 settlement for a lawsuit filed by Frederick Smith-Morton, a security guard employed by the district.
The Budget Committee did not have any public discussion about the case other than the vote to approve the out-of-court settlement. The full BET will vote on whether to pay the settlement at its next regular meeting Feb. 27.
The suit alleged that supervisors at the school regularly targeted Black security staff for reprimands, extra work and termination, more so than staff of other races.
“African-American officers were given more burdensome duties and expected to deal with the cantankerous students at Greenwich High School,” the suit reads. “Caucasian security officers are given more latitude and margin of error than African-American security officers. … Smith-Morton has always been and is currently assigned a disproportionate workload.”
Director of School Safety Services Thomas J. Bobkowski and former Greenwich employee Regina Williams were also named as defendants in the suit alongside the Town of Greenwich and the Greenwich Board of Education.
The town denied most of Smith-Morton’s allegations, including the most serious ones, in legal filings made in 2021. Greenwich schools did not immediately return a request for a comment.
The suit was filed in Connecticut District Court in New Haven and Smith-Morton originally demanded $250,000 from the town. Smith-Morton is still a member of the security staff at GHS.
