As principal of Baldwin Middle School on Long Island, James Brown was accused of sexual harassment, racist remarks and bulšlying behavior ā and he cost the school district ļæ½ļæ½$1.6 million to settle a suit against him.
But the New York š”City Department of Education hired him anyway ā as the new principal of Flushing HS in Queens.
Officialsā excuse?
āWhen DOE officials contacted the Baldwin school district for a recommendationšÆ, they did not disclose this information,ā a spokeswoman said.
While at Baldwin, Brown was š accused of remarking on the tightness of a female studentās pants, said a federal lawsuit against him.
Cheryl Farb, a former dean of students at Baldwin Middle School, won a $5 millioān jury verdict against Brown and the Baldwin school district in 2009 for Brownās āintentional inflictioź¦n of emotional distressā and for the districtās firing her in retaliation for her complaints against him. A judge reduced the award to $1 million, and the case was settled for $1.6 million in late 2010.
Farbās suit saš½id Brown once engaged in a 30-minutš®e conversation about āhow prolific he was as a young man in snapping a girlās rear bra strap and opening it up with one quick hand motion.ā
Brown told Farb to make a school reportš§ ātight as a virginās, well, you know what is ātight on a virgin,ā she reported.
Brown, who is black, allegedly told Farb, āThere are no more white administrators and no one leftš like you to talk to.ā He alšlegedly said he had to hire Farb, who is white, and others based on race.
Brown also made derogatory comments about a studentās mom, the suit said, calling her āso disgusting. How could š her husband ever go to bed and sleep with that woman? Shešās just a clam digger.ā
Farb said Brown intimidated her by going into her office and proceeding to āviolently slam the door and pound his fists on her dź¦¦eskā and yell at her.
When Brown, 48š, showed up days before the school year started as the new principal at Flushing HS, teachers ā who had learned about his past through aš» Google search ā were stunned.
The DOE ārefused to šsay whether it ran a background check. Brownās salary is $132,633.
Brown refused to comment to The Post.
Farb declined to comment on Brownās new job, but her husband, Harold Neź¦ŗwman, who joined her in the suit, was shocked.
āPart of the reason we sued Brown was to get him out of education, because we didnāt think he deserved to be around children,ā he saā±id. ā¦āIf I had children, I wouldnāt be sending them to that school.ā
Brown used to work in city schools, starting in 1988 as a substitute teacher. He served as a middle-school math teaš®cher, assistant principal and principal in Brooklyn before resigning in 2001 to join Baldwin. After the 2009 verdict, Baldwin āreassignedā Brown to the district office. He āvoluntarily leftā in June 2012, a spokeswoman said.
Flushing HS is one of 24 struggling schools Mayor Bloomberg tried last year to shut and reopen with up tź¦ŗo half the staff replaced, but the plan was blocked by court order in a suit by the teachers and principals unions.
āBloomberg is determined to close the place down, and ź¦”heās been putting us through hell,ā a staffer said.