The Avon Public Schools and former Avon High School (AHS) Principal Stephanie Lockhart are being accused of discriminating against a Jewish family in a federal lawsuit. The Plaintiffs, Gregory Wolfe and Julie Sherman Wolfe, allege that Lockhart and her employees created an environment where there was pervasive antisemitism after the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel, and discriminated against the Wolfes when they tried to intervene on their son’s behalf.
“Mr. Wolfe was a well-regarded teacher who reported the antisemitism his son experienced in Avon’s schools,” a statement from the Wolfes lead attorney, Tyler Balding of Carey & Associates P.C., states. “However, instead of addressing it, the district retaliated against the family for speaking up. This case is about ensuring that opposing antisemitism never costs an educator his career.”
Gregory Wolfe had been a long-term substitute in the Avon school district for years. After October 7, his son, an AHS student who is referred to as C.W. in the lawsuit, was allegedly harassed by his classmates, repeatedly called a racial slur, and, in one instance, had a bag of pennies thrown at him in class. He was allegedly forced to sit through daily discussions of the Israel-Hamas war in his ancient world history class, where he was not allowed to talk about the Israeli perspective of the war, the Plaintiffs’ complaint alleges.
Gregory and Julie submitted multiple complaints to the school about the conduct of the teacher, Cari Genovese, and other incidents at school, which they believe Lockhart and district officials retaliated against them for, the Plaintiffs accuse in the lawsuit.
At the start of the 2024 spring semester, Gregory was given a long-term substitute position at Avon Middle School (AMS), but was asked to leave and take on a long-term teaching position at the high school instead. The reason he was given for being asked to switch jobs was that a long-term substitute at the high school did not have enough experience teaching high school students, the complaint states.
During that semester, the lawsuit claims that Gregory and C.W. were subject to disparate treatment from Principal Lockhart. Some of her alleged actions were relatively benign—she refused to acknowledge Gregory and C.W., even when she would walk around hallways greeting everyone else there—but other actions had long-term implications for Gregory’s career, the complaint said. According to the complaint, Gregory served as a long-term substitute for Genovese’s history class for almost an entire semester, after Genovese had to take a leave for health reasons. Lockhart was in charge of evaluating long-term substitute teachers, but never observed a single lesson he gave during that time.
Months later, Gregory applied for another long-term substitute teaching position for the fall 2024 class. As part of the interview, he was asked to describe a lesson plan he gave in the past, the complaint stated. He spoke about a lesson on the Industrial Revolution and a project with it. Weeks later, Lockhart informed him that he would not get the job because that lesson did not have any “critical thinking components.”
Gregory pushed back—saying that the lesson was a standard part of the AHS curriculum that all social studies teachers teach, and in emails with Avon Superintendent Bridget Carnemolla, he noted that Lockhart had highlighted that specific lesson in his class in her weekly newsletter to parents and students.
During communications about why he was passed up for the job, Lockhart told him that he didn’t have relevant experience and his lessons—the Industrial Revolution lesson in particular—lacked academic rigor and critical thinking components. Instead, Lockhart hired the substitute he had swapped positions with during the Spring 2024 semester. That woman had only one year of experience substituting in high school, and it was for a drama class, the complaint states.
“The only rationale to explain the different direction was that Ms. Lockhart was seeking a female employee who did not advocate against antisemitism or hold a Jewish background and beliefs,” the complaint alleges. “Plaintiff G.W. was replaced by the same woman whom he was told was less qualified than him to teach the exact same class just a few months earlier.”
The Plaintiffs allege that more discriminatory actions followed. In fall 2024, Gregory was a substitute science teacher at AMS. He won an award for his teaching, but was nonetheless replaced as the long-term substitute the next semester, and given a role as a building substitute instead, which has lower pay. The next year, Gregory was passed up for a job as a full-time history teacher at AHS, and didn’t even make it to the second-round interview despite glowing recommendations from Carnemola and AHS Assistant Principal Jamaal Lee, among others.
The attorney representing Avon Public Schools and Lockhart, Alexandria Voccio of Maccini & Voccio LLC, said she was “not going to respond to (questions) about pending litigation.”
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