A Witch Trial at the Legal Aid Society – by Bari Weiss – Common Sense with Bari Weiss
Maron is exactly the kind of lawyer you d imagine Legal Aid would put on the cover of its brochures. But today the public defender is filing suit in the Southern District of New York against the organization to which she has dedicated her career.
The suit, which you can read here, claims that Maron was discriminated against on the basis of race by her employer, Legal Aid Society, and her union, the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys. It claims that both defendants published knowingly false statements in furtherance of ideological and political motives divorced from the core functions of Ms. Maron s employment. In other words: it says she was forced out of her job because of her political views and her race, a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
None of this would have happened if I just said I loved books like White Fragility, and I m a fan of Bill de Blasio s proposals for changing New York City public schools, and I planned to vote for Maya Wiley for mayor. The reason they went after me is because I have a different point of view, she said.
That difference came out most starkly in education, and in Maron s role on the school board and as a candidate for city council she was outspoken in her views.