Ex-dancer’s race discrimination claim promptly addressed, Blue Valley district says
A federal lawsuit filed by a black former Blue Valley Northwest High School student alleges that the district stood by as she experienced multiple incidents of racial discrimination as a member of the school dance team.
But according to a response filed by the Blue Valley school district in court on Thursday, the district took action immediately after hearing the allegations in May 2018, firing head dance coach Carley Fine within 24 hours.
Camille Sturdivant filed the suit in U.S. District Court against the district, Fine, principal Amy Pressly and Blue Valley teacher and dance team parent Katie Porter. The suit states that Sturdivant was excluded from the Dazzlers dance team performance in July 2017 because of her skin color.
According to the lawsuit, Fine’s team choreographer, Kevin Murakami, told Sturdivant that she could not perform in the contemporary dance because her skin was “too dark” and would clash with the color of the costumes. The lawsuit states that Sturdivant and her parents reported the exclusion to Pressly, who told them coaches had the right to pick who would perform, at a September meeting.
But according to court documents filed by the district on Thursday, Sturdivant’s parents made no mention of the racial comment at that September meeting. The original lawsuit suggests the July performance and September meeting occurred in 2017; the district’s response says the September meeting occurred in 2016.
“Because Mr. and Mrs. Sturdivant had not attributed Sturdivant’s exclusion from the contemporary dance to the color of her skin, Dr. Pressly had no reason to believe that she should treat the dance team any differently than any other activity in which students compete for opportunities to participate,” the district’s response reads.
Murakami denied that he made the comment in a statement sent to The Star on Wednesday, and said the allegation was “absolute nonsense.”
“I never said Camille Sturdivant’s skin was too dark,” Murakami wrote. “I never joked that she was too dark. I never even referenced the color of her skin.
The district says it heard about Murakami’s alleged comment for the first time in May 2018, when the Sturdivants reported their daughter’s discovery of a racially charged text message between Fine and Murakami.
According to her lawsuit, Sturdivant continued to dance through her senior year though she felt Fine was “dismissive” of her. On May 1, 2018, Fine gave Sturdivant her cellphone to play music for a dance performance. Sturdivant saw a text message exchange in which Fine and Murakami appeared to discuss Sturdivant making the University of Missouri’s Golden Girls dance team. She photographed the text message to share with her parents.
“THAT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. I’m so mad,” Murakami allegedly wrote.
The lawsuit says Fine responded, “It actually makes my stomach hurt.”
She then added: “Bc she’s (expletive) black. I hate that.”
According to the district, Fine was terminated on May 2, one day after the Sturdivants showed Pressly the text messages. It was at this meeting that the district says it heard about Murakami’s alleged comment for the first time, though it says the Sturdivants said the comment was made in July 2016, not in July 2017.
“As soon as the district and Dr. Pressly were aware of any racially-based animus being expressed about (Sturdivant), prompt and effective corrective action was taken,” the district’s court response states.
Sturdivant’s lawsuit also claims she was ostracized from the team after Fine’s termination. Fine and all the team members except Sturdivant and the only other black member of the Dazzler team attended dinner on the Country Club Plaza after the team banquet was canceled.
Dancers attended another dinner held at the home of one of the Dazzlers, but Sturdivant wasn’t invited. At the high school’s final dance performance, all the Dazzlers except Sturdivant and the only other black student on the 14-member squad wore ribbons in their hair with the initials CF for Carley Fine.
The district says it prohibited Fine from being on school property or attending Dazzler dance events after she was fired. But it maintains that it does not have the right to prevent Fine from hanging out with students off campus and that both dinners were not school-sanctioned.
It acknowledges that it permitted Fine to watch her younger sister perform at certain school events as long as she did not “cause any disruptions.”
It also says that while it appears Porter, a third-grade teacher in the district and a parent of a Dazzler, attended the two non-school sanctioned dinners, she did not represent the district and cannot be used to make a case that the district excluded Sturdivant from the dinners. It maintains that Pressly did not know that Dazzler team members would wear the ribbons.
Fine has since coached a team called the Dazzler AllStars that competed in a Dance Team Union regional competition in Lee’s Summit late last year. A district spokeswoman said that team is not affiliated with the district nor Blue Valley Northwest.
Sturdivant’s lawyers did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Fine, who is listed as the owner of Perception Dance studio in Lenexa, issued her own statement regarding the case.
“Because I am named, I am anxiously looking forward to defending myself,” Fine said in an emailed statement Wednesday. “It’s tempting to answer accusations, especially when so many of them are false and/or misleading. My legal team, however, insists we defend our case in a courtroom, not on the internet or the evening news.”
Superintendent Todd White also issued a statement to parents regarding the “incident of racial hostility due to the actions of a former coach.”
“We are sorry for this injustice,” White said in part. “We also want you to know, when the Blue Valley Northwest administration became aware of any racially motivated conduct, immediate action was taken, including separation of employment with the coach. Respectful and meaningful relationships between staff and students are at the heart of Blue Valley’s culture. Discrimination of any kind has no place here.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2019 at 4:35 PM.
