Tammy Jordan was hired to teach second-grade at the beginning of the 2016 school year in Mount Laurel, making her one of the first black teachers at Larchmont Elementary School since 1990.

By the end of the 2018 school year, though, Jordan quit her job due to the “onerous, abusive and hostile” working conditions she suffered, which saw her demoted to an overfilled first-grade class with students who had academic and behavior problems, according to a 27-page lawsuit she filed in U.S. District Court against the school, principal and other second-grade teachers.

Other second-grade teachers consistently excluded Jordan, at times refuse to talk or acknowledge her, berated her in front of her classroom and said things like, “I would show you my lesson plans, but you won’t understand them anyway,” or ask, “Do your grandchildren have the same mother?” the complaint alleges.

The principal at the school, George Jackson, who is also black, acknowledged the "systemic racism and discrimination” at the school when Jordan constantly complained to him, but according to the complaint, he told her “They don’t mean nothing by it,” and that she had to be like the women in the movie "Hidden Figures.”

On one particular occasion, Jordan states in the complaint that the the principal cried in front of her saying he was scared to hire another black teacher because it was too controversial.

Along with the details of the ongoing discrimination and harassment by the teachers and the principal, she charges the district did not investigate any of her claims.

The Mount Laurel School District, nor the attorney’s representing Jordan, have responded to requests for comment about the suit.

After being hired in 2016, following a rigorous interview process during which she was told she was the most experienced, Jordan says that other teachers at the school accused her of being an “affirmative action” hire.

And during Black History Month in 2017, (in February), Jordan says a teacher told her, "We don’t have time in the curriculum to teach about Black History,” but Jordan said she supported spending a week teaching students about the author Dr. Seuss.

Jackson, he principal, also told Jordan that he continued to allow discrimination against Jordan, telling her, “The way I was raised, white is always right." She also says Jackson told her to be like Jackie Robinson, the first black Major League baseball player, who endured threats, harassment, racism, discrimination while playing in the late 1940s and 1950s.

The racial and ethnicity makeup of Larchmont’s students is 41 percent white, 13 percent Hispanic, 22 percent black and 14 percent Asian, according to New Jersey School Performance Reports. The school has about 400 students in grades Pre-K to 4th grade.

The school’s demographics are becoming more diverse. The number of white students decreased nearly 11 percent in the past two years, while the Hispanic and black population at the elementary school has increased around 3 percent each, and the Asian population has increased nearly 5 percent.

Taylor Tiamoyo Harris may be reached at tharris@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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