{"id":27148,"date":"2023-11-08T12:59:35","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T12:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/11\/08\/librarians-turn-to-eeoc-for-help-in-fight-over-book-bans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:10:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:10:55","slug":"librarians-turn-to-eeoc-for-help-in-fight-over-book-bans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/federal-oversight\/2023\/11\/08\/librarians-turn-to-eeoc-for-help-in-fight-over-book-bans\/","title":{"rendered":"Librarians turn to EEOC for help in fight over book bans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She refused to ban books, many of them about racism and the experiences of LGBTQ+ people. And for that, Suzette Baker was fired as a library director in a rural county in central Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m kind of persona non grata around here,\u201d said Baker, who had headed the Kingsland, Texas, library system until she refused to take down a prominent display of several books people had sought to ban over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link smg-interstitial-link--fallback wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\"><a href=\"\/\/U.S.%20Equal%20Employment%20Opportunity%20Commission\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__fallback-link\">EEOC urges strict harassment policies, even for virtual offices<\/a><\/aside>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, Baker is fighting back. She and two other librarians who were similarly fired have filed workplace discrimination claims with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. And as culture war battles to keep certain books from children and teens put public and school libraries increasingly <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/book-ban-library-censorship-weekend-fd6b313bffe81190b3e8e0fb69eb97a1\">under pressure<\/a>, their goal is redemption and, where possible, eventual reinstatement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, it\u2019s a wait-and-see whether the claims will succeed \u2014 and set new precedent \u2014 in the struggle between teachers and librarians around the country who oppose book bans and conservative activists who say some books are inappropriate for young minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fight has involved a <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/books-bans-american-library-association-42b34a284a6363439de20bbb65bb43b4\">record number<\/a> of book-banning efforts; some libraries cutting ties with the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/library-book-ban-association-withdraw-7f5743a9e464433a745697f9111d7f6b\">American Library Association<\/a>, which opposes book bans; and <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/business-education-wyoming-gillette-c8624f5894af4753c2bbdf8d7c7c9f88\">even attempts<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/libraries-books-bans-arkansas-758f28c04c573d03b869ad2738e2b06d\">prosecute librarians<\/a> for allowing children to access books some consider too graphic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At least one terminated librarian has gained a measure of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brooky Parks, who was fired for standing up for programs on anti-racism and LGBTQ+ stories she organized for teens at the Erie Community Library north of Denver, won a $250,000 settlement in September. Reached through the Colorado Civil Rights Division, the settlement requires her former employer to give librarians more say in decisions involving library programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Parks\u2019 settlement with the High Plains Library District capped a stressful eight-month period without work, when community donations helped her avoid losing her home. And it will likely resolve Parks\u2019 claim with the EEOC, said her attorney, Iris Halper, who represents the three librarians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI just wasn\u2019t going to back down from it. It was just the right thing to do,\u201d said Parks, now a librarian at the University of Denver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"5616\" height=\"3744\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23311754466120.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79115\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23311754466120.jpg.jpg 5616w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23311754466120.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23311754466120.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23311754466120.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23311754466120.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23311754466120.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 5616px) 100vw, 5616px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Librarian Brooky Parks is shown outside the library on the campus of the University of Denver on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, in Denver. Parks, who was fired for standing up for programs on anti-racism and LGBTQ+ stories she organized for teens at the Erie Community Library north of Denver, won a $250,000 settlement in September with the assistance of the Colorado Civil Rights Division. She now works as a librarian at the University of Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After her firing in 2022, Baker filed an EEOC claim against her employer, the Llano County Library System in Kingsland, Texas. And in September 2023, Terri Lesley, executive director of the Campbell County Public Library System in Gillette, Wyoming, filed a claim over her firing last summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Halpern, with the Denver firm Rathod Mohamedbhai, compared the wrongful termination claims to civil rights era legal battles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is honestly sad that we\u2019ve gotten to this point. But history is a constant struggle and we have to learn from our past,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 1964 Civil Right Act established the EEOC to enforce laws against workplace discrimination. One legal expert thinks the librarians might be able to prevail on the grounds that, under those laws, employees may not be discriminated against for associating with certain classes of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWith any case, the devil can be in the details in terms of how the facts come out and what they can present. But these are definitely actionable claims,\u201d said Rutgers University law professor David Lopez, a former EEOC general counsel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An EEOC investigation can take over a year. After that, the EEOC may attempt to reach a settlement with the employer out of court, sue on the employee\u2019s behalf or issue a letter saying the employee has grounds to sue on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The librarians haven\u2019t yet received an EEOC response and none is expected before the end of next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI would love to be optimistic,\u201d Baker said. \u201cI know there are a lot of people in this community who are just absolutely behind the library being open and free and equal for all. And there\u2019s a lot of people who aren\u2019t. So it\u2019s a hard, hard situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EEOC spokesperson Victor Chen declined to comment on specific filings, adding \u201cwe can\u2019t even confirm or deny we have these complaints.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The county attorney offices and other representatives of the government officials who fired Parks, Baker and Lesley did not return phone and email messages seeking comment, or declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At her Texas library, Baker displayed several books that have been targeted in recent book bans and a sign that read: \u201cWe put the \u2018lit\u2019 in literature\u201d \u2014 a reference to a Tennessee pastor\u2019s recent burning of books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Baker was fired after refusing to take down the display and signs \u2014 the last straw after she resisted book banning in her own library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In March, a federal judge ordered 17 books returned to Kingsland library shelves while a citizen lawsuit against book banning proceeded. The works ranged from children\u2019s books to award-winning nonfiction, including \u201cThey Called Themselves the K.K.K: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group,\u201d by Susan Campbell Bartoletti; and \u201cIt\u2019s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health,\u201d by Robie Harris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cContent-based restrictions on speech are presumptively unconstitutional and subject to strict scrutiny,\u201d Texas U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman wrote in his March 30 ruling. He cited a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that barred communities from banning signs because of what they say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Llano County Commission <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/texas-library-banned-books-73f17143237d57784efd2746d292ab68\">considered but decided against closing<\/a> the county\u2019s three libraries in response to the ruling. Closing the libraries would have been eerily similar to the history across the U.S. of closing swimming pools rather than desegregating them, Halpern said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Years of turmoil<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like Baker, Lesley had trouble finding work after being fired from the library system she directed in Gillette, Wyoming. Her dismissal followed two years of turmoil over challenges to the books available and library programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of the same county officials who opposed a transgender magician\u2019s plans to perform at the library went on to join local residents in seeking to ban books, according to Lesley\u2019s EEOC filing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Baker and Lesley both were fired after local officials appointed new library board members willing to be more aggressive about pulling books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur county commissioners appointed board members who were sympathetic to the people who wanted to remove the books. And it was a long dance to try to get it there. And in the end they had to fire me, I think, in order to be able to meet their goal,\u201d Lesley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Campbell County Commission skirted a deputy county attorney\u2019s recommendation not to appoint past applicants for the board without re-interviewing them along with new candidates, according to Lesley\u2019s EEOC claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI saw this as a well-executed attack on the library by a group of citizens and elected officials. It was an attack on the LGBTQ+ community as well,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it was an attack on the books.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Several who were fired for refusing to remove books have filed workplace discrimination claims with the federal 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