The former principal of the Philadelphia High School for Girls has brought a lawsuit against the school district after she was demoted after she denied three students their diplomas during a graduation ceremony in June of 2023.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, Lisa Mesi, the former principal of the Philadelphia High School for Girls, alleges she was given a 'demeaning 'Special Assignment' because she is White," in retaliation for her not being willing to provide a public apology after video of her denying the diploma to one student -- who danced during the school's graduation after being told not to -- went viral on the internet.
Mesi, in the lawsuit, claims she worked for the district for 28 years before she was given a "humiliating 'Principal on Special Assignment' position, where she worked in a cubicle in the School District’s Central Office for an entire school year and was assigned work unfitting for a Principal of her caliber."
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The demotion came after three students, including the girl seen in the video, Hafsah Abdul-Rahman, a then 17-year-old senior, who did a "Griddy" dance as she was graduating from the Philadelphia High School for Girls, were denied their diplomas during the ceremony.
When video of that dance went viral online, Abdul-Rahman told NBC10 she was aware of the school’s rule for families to not cheer, clap or shout while students walked across the stage to receive their diplomas and warned her family not to do so.
But, she herself couldn’t help but celebrate a bit.
In Mesi's lawsuit, the former principal of Girls' High claims she was discriminated against after she followed an "established rule and tradition" at the school when she withheld diplomas of three students because they or their family members disrupted the ceremony when students' names were being called to collect their diplomas.
However, as the lawsuit notes, all three of the students who were punished were allowed to graduate with their class and received their diplomas after the graduation ceremony ended.
Mesi claims, in the suit, that because she is white and the students that she punished are all Black, the district "bought into and perpetuated a false narrative, precipitated by public opinion expressed on social media, that [Mesi] is a racist."
Instead, Mesi argued in the court documents that she has spent her career "advancing and promoting the educational pursuits, successes and opportunities of minority students and minority educators."
And, she argued that she was singled out as the previous three principals at the school, the suit claims, were Black and did not receive backlash, repercussions, or disciplinary action after they enforced the same "established rule and tradition" of punishing students if they or their families caused disruption at prior graduation ceremonies.
Instead, after she refused to participate in a press conference to publicly express regret, Mesi's lawsuit claims, she was removed as principal of Girls' High and reassigned.
With this lawsuit, Mesi is arguing that the school district violated her rights under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and is seeking compensatory damages for emotional distress, mental anguish, anxiety, depression, embarrassment, humiliation and inconvenience, attorney fees and other expenses.
Contacted Thursday, the School District of Philadelphia told NBC10 that it doesn't comment on pending litigation.
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