BEVERLY HILLS—The Beverly Hills Unified School District has agreed to pay $685,000 as part of a federal discrimination lawsuit settlement deal with former Beverly Hills High Principal Carter Paysinger.
The school board voted June 18 to approve the settlement.
The ex-principal, who filed the lawsuit last July, claimed that district officials regularly ignored his complaints of racial discrimination and retaliated against him through attacks in the media, harassment and by denying job opportunities to him and his family.
Paysinger, the first and only black principal of Beverly Hills High, officially retired from his position on June 30.
“This is a huge victory for everyone who has ever suffered in the workplace and a great day for the employees of the district and the community as a whole,” Paysinger said in a statement. “Now that my case is resolved, I can focus all of my attention on seeking election to the board and continuing my goals of moving our district forward to the highest level of excellence.”
School Board President Brian Goldberg told City News Service he was “glad that the district will be able to put this lawsuit behind us and move forward with a new principal at the high school.”
“The district did not admit guilt and our carrier is paying two-thirds of the cost,” Goldberg said. “The out of pocket cost to the district is actually less than what we originally offered to settle this case almost two years ago.”
Paysinger graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1974 and was a longtime teacher and coach, including being the school’s football coach from 1990-2008, before becoming principal in 2010.
Paysinger currently serves as the president-elect of the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section, the governing body of nearly 600 high schools in Southern California.
