Mattituck school board appoints Claudio to elementary teaching position
The Mattituck-Cutchogue school board appointed Anthony Claudio as a probationary elementary teacher following an executive session Thursday night.
Superintendent James McKenna said Friday the school board voted 6-0 to approve the appointment, which goes into effect Sept. 1. School board member Sara Hassildine was absent from the vote.
The teacher appointment comes three weeks after a federal judge ruled that Mr. Claudio, 51, is to be reinstated into an appropriate position within the district. Mr. Claudio had worked as a special education teacher in the district until he was denied tenure in 2009.
Mr. Claudio, who was 47 at the time of his termination, had alleged in his complaint that he had been fired from a special education department where 28 of 30 employees were female and most were younger than 30.
In October, an eight-member jury had awarded Mr. Claudio $70,000 in back pay at the conclusion of his civil discrimination case before Judge Joseph Bianco in the Eastern District Court of New York.
While the jury found the school district had discriminated against based on his age, it did not find Mr. Claudio was discriminated against based on his gender.
Prior to Judge Bianco’s recent reinstatement ruling, the district had advertised a special education opening at Cutchogue East. Mr. McKenna said Mr. Claudio’s appointment isn’t for a special education teaching position. On Thursday, the school board appointed Jennifer Morgenstern as a special education elementary teacher.
Mr. Claudio declined to comment Friday.
