Dallas school superintendent accused of sex harassment offers her resignation

Jet, Oct 6, 1997

Dividing on racial lines, the Dallas school board recently rejected the resignation of School Superintendent Yvonne Gonzalez and placed her on a 30-day administrative leave.

Gonzalez, who is Hispanic and has been on the job for eight months, offered her resignation after the school district's Black chief financial officer filed a lawsuit accusing her of sexual harassment.

She denied the allegation, saying she was being attacked because she was investigating corruption and mismanagement, and was quitting only to protect the district's image.

The school board voted 6-3 to delay a decision on the resignation for 30 days. The boards three Black members wanted to accept the resignation.

Matthew Harden Jr., 42, who is Black, filed the lawsuit against Gonzalez alleging that she sexually harassed him and intentionally ruined the careers of competent employees.

The lawsuit also alleges that Gonzalez made "personal overtures" to Harden and placed a tracking device on his car because "she was jealous of other women around him."

Harden also claims that Gonzalez sent him suggestive notes such as "how about a little one-on-one." The suit also alleges that although Gonzalez was already married, she wanted to marry Harden.

In addition to the sexual harassment lawsuit, Gonzalez has been embroiled in allegations that she spent $90,000 to renovate her office and also deliberately demoted or reassigned Black employees.

In a brief news conference, Gonzalez denied the allegations made in the lawsuit and said she was "not guilty of any harassment, sexual or otherwise."

Gonzalez said Harden's lawsuit was an attempt to discredit her because of an ongoing probe into district corruption and mismanagement.

Harden's division has been the subject of internal and FBI investigations over the last few months involving allegations of overtime abuse, contract fixing and other problems. Several of Harden's top staffers have been placed on administrative leave or fired. All 13 employees indicted on federal charges of overtime fraud were in Harden's division.

Black leaders opposed Gonzalez selection as superintendent last January, saying she was unqualified and that they wanted a Black superintendent. Some Blacks viewed Gonzalez's appointment as another example of powerful Whites and Hispanics shutting Blacks out of power.

There are 154,985 students in the Dallas school system -- 41.5 percent are Black, 45.5 percent are Hispanic and slightly more than 10 percent are White.

Meanwhile, Robert Payton, an associate superintendent who is Black, will serve as acting superintendent while Gonzalez is on leave.