Legal fees in the defense of Lakewood schools Superintendent Laura Winters could surpass $100,000, as the district fights a discrimination lawsuit set for trial in August, the Asbury Park Press reported Thursday.
The Lakewood Board of Education voted weeks ago to authorize up to $20,000 in additional spending on the case, according to district records and a recent board resolution cited by the newspaper. That comes on top of more than $80,000 in taxpayer money already paid to outside lawyers since the litigation began in 2023.
The suit was brought by Annette Vega, an assistant principal at Lakewood High School, who accuses Winters of discriminating against her on the basis of age and race. Vega, who is Puerto Rican, says she was repeatedly passed over for principal positions between 2013 and 2024 despite holding more experience than the candidates who were ultimately hired. She has served as an assistant principal in five different Lakewood schools, according to the lawsuit.
Justin Burns, Vega’s attorney, told the Asbury Park Press that his client was “skipped over for 11 promotions.” All of those positions went to younger candidates, he said, and nearly all went to white applicants. Burns said Vega’s internal complaints about the pattern were ignored and that she faced retaliation. He attributed the decisions to a combination of her age and her race.
The lawsuit does not specify a dollar figure for damages, but Burns estimated that Vega lost at least $450,000 in salary and pension benefits by failing to advance.
In court filings, attorneys for the district said there is no evidence of discrimination and that Vega was passed over each time because of a lack of qualifications or the presence of stronger applicants. In one 2024 opening, the lawyers wrote, a panel of interviewers selected other candidates from a field of multiple applicants. The filings also said Winters based some of her decisions on complaints about Vega “relative to personality, leadership and conflict with teaching staff.”
The case was originally scheduled for trial on April 13 but was pushed back over courtroom scheduling issues. It is now set to begin August 17.
