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City to Pay $750K to Settle Suit Claiming Sexism in Education Department

 The city is paying $750,000 to a Education Department employee to settle her lawsuit that accused John Shea, (above) the CEO of the Education Department's School Facilities Division, of sexism, doling out unequal pay and retaliation.
The city is paying $750,000 to a Education Department employee to settle her lawsuit that accused John Shea, (above) the CEO of the Education Department's School Facilities Division, of sexism, doling out unequal pay and retaliation.
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NYC.gov

CIVIC CENTER — The city is set to pay $750,000 to settle a lawsuit that accuses a Department of Education executive and other management of sexism, sexual harassment and paying females less than their male counterparts, sources said.

The settlement will require that the plaintiff, Heidi Husser, the director of labor relations in the DOE's school facilities division, resign her position, according to sources. Meanwhile, John Shea, the boss she accused of sexism, will remain at his job as the CEO of the school facilities division earning $200,000 a year.

“We’ve reached a settlement in principle which was in the best interest of the city,” the city Law Department said in a statement.

Husser filed the lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court in 2012, saying females holding senior-level positions in her division, including herself, were paid less than their male counterparts and even their subordinates. The pay gap was due to gender discrimination, the lawsuit says.

When Husser made a formal complaint about the discrepancy to the DOE, Shea retaliated against her by closely managing her work performance, taking away responsibilities and excluding her from meetings and conference calls, the lawsuit says.

Husser also accused Shea of treating his office like a frat house, commenting on the appearances of women's bodies and talking about his genitalia.

However, a federal judge dismissed the sexual harassment claim in Husser's lawsuit because it did not meet the threshold of federal employment discrimination law.

Husser's lawyer, Daniel Clifton, did not respond to a request for comment.

The DOE did not respond to a request for comment.

Husser isn't the first to accuse Shea of sexism and sexual harassment.

Sheila Dancy-Wilkins, also a director in the school facilities division, sued the Education Department and Shea in 2012, accusing him of horndog comments and unequal pay. The city paid Dancy-Wilkins $40,000 last year to settle the case. She no longer works for the DOE.

In 2013 Nancy Gawlowicz, another former employee in the school facilities division, filed a notice of claim — the first step in suing the city — also saying women earned significantly less and got fewer promotions than their male counterparts. Her notice of claim is still pending.