A county school official has filed a $3.5 million suit against the Board of Education and two top education officials claiming that he was denied a promotion because he is white.
Huntley Cross, who is Superintendent Carol S. Parham's special assistant, claims he was discriminated against when he was passed over for director of pupil services.
Mr. Cross was on a list of three candidates, but school officials chose a black man who was not on the list, according to the civil suit filed Friday in Circuit Court.
The suit also names Dr. Parham and Kenneth P. Lawson, acting superintendent for student support services.
According to a memo dated Jan. 28, 1993 and filed with the suit, Mr. Cross was ranked third of the three candidates. The memo notes the race and sex of each candidate. A black woman, the only minority on the list, ranked No. 1. But she withdrew her name after accepting a job in another school system, according to the suit. Instead of choosing Mr. Cross or the other candidate, William Wentworth, school officials picked Leslie Mobray for the job.
In a memo dated Sept. 2, 1993, Mr. Lawson recommended Mr. Mobray for the postion and called Mr. Mobray a minority who would be able to "provide an African-American male role model at the executive level of our organization."
Mr. Wentworth, principal of North County High School, settled his $3.5 million suit against the school system in December. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but school officials conceded in a statement issued jointly by attorneys for both sides that "procedures applicable to filling vacancies were not fully followed in this case."