A Navajo language teacher is alleging racial discrimination after she was fired from Blanding Elementary School, which she says misused federal funds designated for Native American heritage instruction.
The school’s principal also asked teacher Maryleen Tahy whether she was trying to “become a white man” because of a medical condition that causes pale marks on her skin, according to a lawsuit Tahy filed this week in federal court. San Juan School District officials did not immediately return a call for comment.
Tahy was the only Native American employee at Blanding Elementary when she was hired in 2013, the lawsuit states, though Native students make up more than 35 percent of the school's enrollment.