Case Particulars

Tribunal

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Date Filed

November 15, 2022

Docket No.

OCR Case Number 01-23-1069

Case Status

Complaint Filed with U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR); OCR Referred Case to EEOC; DOJ Commenced Investigation; EEOC Finds Reasonable Cause that PPSD Violated Title VII; DOJ Complaint Filed

Case Overview

Legal Insurrection Foundation (LIF) filed an administrative complaint charging Providence Public School District (PPSD) with civil rights violations for a racially discriminatory program. Specifically, LIF has challenged a racially discriminatory loan forgiveness program that PPSD devised, which program is open only to newly- and recently-hired non-white teachers. The case was filed with the U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Civil Rights, which then made a formal referral of the case to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on February 2, 2023, which is investigating.

UPDATE: On March 21, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to the Commissioner of the Rhode Island Department of Education and the General Counsel for the Providence Pubic School District, informing them that DOJ “is opening an investigation to determine whether Rhode Island Department of Education (“RIDE”) and Providence Public Schools (“PPS”) are engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. (“Title VII”).”

UPDATE #2: On July 24, 2025, the EEOC sent a letter to LIF and PPSD informing them that the EEOC had made a “determination on the merits” of LIF’s complaint, finding that “[t]he evidence obtained during the investigation establishes reasonable cause to believe that Respondent [PPSD] engaged in unlawful discrimination against a class of White applicants and employees who applied and were hired by Respondent in a teaching position for five academic years starting with the 2021-2022 school year based on their race, color and national origin, in violation of Title VII, as amended…This determination is final.