Two former staffers of the Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School in Foster City have filed separate lawsuits against the school, alleging age discrimination and wrongful termination.
Rina Shapira, 77, and Marit Shmargad, 61, who were dismissed last May and July, respectively, have named head of school Barbara Gereboff, the school and the board of directors as defendants. Shmargad filed suit in San Mateo County Superior Court on July 20, while Shapira filed Oct. 24.
Both suits also claim that Gereboff and the other defendants discriminated against the plaintiffs on the basis of national origin. Shmargad is a native Israeli. Shapira, a European-born Holocaust survivor, lived in Israel before moving to California.
In a written statement, Wornick’s attorney, Michael Farbstein, called the lawsuits “unfounded” and said they “will be defended vigorously.”
Shmargad, who had been with Wornick since its founding in 1986 and headed its Judaic department for many of those years, told j. that the school failed to follow proper procedures in her termination.
“You need to be a mensch when you do those things,” Shmargad said. “I have fired people, too. It’s part of the job. But when you fire someone you need to show him why, bring evidence. Firing shouldn’t be shocking.
“To suddenly come and say ‘I’m cutting you out’ — we don’t do these things, especially in a Jewish day school [where] we are teaching kids Jewish values and how to respect each other.”
Shapira, who worked for the school for nearly 10 years as a Hebrew teacher, declined to talk to j. for this story but empowered her attorney to speak for her.
Both women are represented by Beth Mora, whose office is in San Ramon.
According to Shmargad’s complaint, in addition to the two plaintiffs, several other Wornick employees have been let go in recent months, all over age 40 and some of them replaced by younger workers.
The suit also describes alleged incidents in which Gereboff, who has led Wornick since July 2010, showed apparent displeasure with the accents of Shmargad and other Israelis on staff and made derogatory remarks about Israelis. The Shapira suit makes similar allegations.
Farbstein said the K-8 school, with more than 200 students, is “wrongly being subjected to litigation over its staffing decisions” and that “the legal process, more than a media campaign by the plaintiffs and their lawyer, will bring the truth to light.”
The San Mateo attorney noted that more than 40 of the school’s 65 employees are older than 40, and that a third of the staff (including Gereboff) is older than 50. His statement also pointed out that several Israelis are on the Wornick staff, including one who replaced Shmargad.
Mora acknowledged that employers do have the right to hire and fire staff, but said termination must be done properly.
“The [Wornick] employers’ handbook has policies and procedures about how employees are disciplined and ultimately terminated,” Mora said. “Traditionally, employers have verbal discipline confirmed in writing, a performance-improvement document confirmed in writing and discussed, then a final written warning. In this situation we don’t have proper compliance.”
Mora said court-ordered dispute resolution will be attempted before the case goes to trial.
Added Shmargad, “This is a wonderful school. I am a big supporter of Jewish day schools. I’m grateful we have them, and grateful I [helped] build one.”