NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The night custodian at Isaac E. Young Middle School is suing his former supervisor and the New Rochelle School District over the handling of a situation that involved hanging nooses in management offices, according to the Journal News.
Robert Johnson, a black custodian, claims his now-retired white supervisor, Phil Carino, hung three nooses in a shared office space between September 2006 and July 2007, including one wrapped around the neck of a toy monkey, the story stated.
Johnson said: "Ever since I came forward and brought this up, I've been getting a lot of snippy looks from certain people. There's just been a lot of racial tension at work that shouldn't be there."
According to the story, Johnson is seeking $1.5 million in compensatory damages from the school district and $3.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Carino.
Though it took the school district nearly an entire year to discipline Carino after Johnson first complained, he was eventually suspended for three weeks without pay over the matter, the story noted.
A February 2008 report stated that Carino had become interested in making nooses when he read a World War II adventure story called "The Dirty Dozen," but that he had been unaware of the offensive historical connotations of the noose for African-Americans and that they were not directed toward Johnson.
After the media reported the noose incidents in February of last year, the district held a one-day seminar of diversity workshops in April 2008, the story added.
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