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Former Elizabeth Middle School Dean Sues District, Alleging Retaliation Over Book Removals

The district attributes her termination to licensure and budget issues, not retaliation.

Overview

  • LeEllen Condry filed a 24-page federal lawsuit alleging she was fired after calling the district’s removal of 19 library books racist.
  • Filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, the case was assigned to a judge and, according to court records, no hearing has been scheduled.
  • Condry, one of the district’s few Black employees, says her 2024 termination was discriminatory and retaliatory and that she was replaced by a white woman who supported the removals, according to the complaint.
  • Superintendent Dan Snowberger disputes the claims, calling them part of an ACLU-driven effort and saying Condry lacked required licensure and held a position later eliminated during a fiscal exigency.
  • A separate suit by civil-rights groups led federal courts to order the 19 ‘highly sensitive’ titles returned to shelves earlier this year; Condry obtained right-to-sue letters from the EEOC and the Colorado Civil Rights Division before filing.