As it dissolves, Erie Rise charter school sued over claims of 'hostile work environment'

The defunct Erie Rise Leadership Academy Charter School is dealing with another lawsuit as it dissolves its financial affairs.

The suit is over a former female employee's claims that she was subjected to a "unwanted advances" and a "hostile work environment" when she worked at Erie Rise and complained about the conduct in October 2022, about eight months before it closed.

The suit adds another aspect to a dissolution process that has been scrutinized in court since December, when the Erie School District sued the publicly funded Erie Rise to speed up the dissolution and increase oversight of the charter school's assets, including $2.2 million in the bank.

The Erie School District largely funded Erie Rise, and the charter school's assets are to revert to the district once the dissolution is over.

The new lawsuit — and how Erie Rise will account for the potential financial liability — are expected to come up at a status conference on Thursday before Erie County Judge Marshall Piccinini, who is monitoring Erie Rise's dissolution in response to the Erie School District's lawsuit. Erie Rise hopes to be dissolved by May 30, a consultant for the school told Piccinini at a hearing on Feb. 8.

State law prohibits a chartering school district from being held responsible for the debts or other liabilities of a dissolved charter school. The Erie School District has said in court that Erie Rise must consider current and potential creditors during the dissolution process.

"We look forward to having an in-depth discussion of the matter during the status conference," the solicitor for the Erie School District, Tim Wachter, said of the new lawsuit.

Erie Rise is facing another lawsuit that could extend beyond the dissolution. The Greater Erie Community Action Committee, which had been Erie Rise's landlord, sued on Feb. 20 over what it claims is $482,970 in back rent and other costs.

Ex-security guard claims improper conduct at Erie Rise

In the new case, the former female employee is claiming she was the subject of "unwanted advances" from Erie Rise's principal when she worked as a security guard at the school for about a year, and that the principal wrongly retaliated against her by suspending her for three days without pay after she complained in October 2022, according to the lawsuit, filed in Erie County Common Pleas Court on March 8.

The suit claims Erie Rise violated the former employee's civil rights by creating a "hostile work environment" and retaliating against her.

The suit names Erie Rise as the sole defendant. It identifies the principal as David Krakoff, who was principal, or director of education, at Erie Rise from January 2022 to February 2023, according to his LinkedIn account.

Krakoff left as director of education shortly after the Erie School Board voted in January 2023 to revoke Erie Rise's charter due to poor academic performance and other concerns. The revocation led Erie Rise, which enrolled about 300 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, to close on June 30, 2023, and to start to dissolve.

Ex-principal at Erie Rise denies claims

Krakoff since February 2023 has been principal of the Midland Innovation and Technology Charter School in Midland, Beaver County.

"Mr. Krakoff vehemently denies the allegations against him and he will vigorously defend himself in this lawsuit," his lawyer, John Stember, of Pittsburgh, said in a letter emailed to the Erie Times-News. Stember said Krakoff would have no further comment.

A lawyer for Erie Rise, Zainab Shields, of Philadelphia, said the school had no comment.

The Erie Times-News is not naming the plaintiff because her claims are related to sexual harassment. The lawsuit identifies her by name and states that she is a resident of the city of Erie.

Lawsuit includes claims of 'flirtatious comments'

The plaintiff claims in the lawsuit that she "was frequently subjected to unwelcome flirtatious comments by Mr. Krakoff," including comments about her appearance. The suit claims Krakoff also called her several times "on her personal cell on the pretext that he needed to discuss a student."

The plaintiff claims the "unwanted advances" made her uncomfortable, and that she filed a complaint against Krakoff on Oct. 13, 2022, according to the suit. The suit claims Krakoff later suspended her for three days without pay following an incident with a student who had tried to leave the Erie Rise building, at West 10th and Cascade streets.

The suit claims that the suspension was retaliatory and that Krakoff also tried to get the plaintiff fired.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Timothy McNair, said in an interview that he is aware of the dissolution of Erie Rise, but said he could not file the lawsuit sooner because he had to wait for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to review the plaintiff's claims. He said the commission ultimately authorized the filing of the suit.

McNair said the next step in the case is for Erie Rise to answer the claims in a court filing.

"We are waiting on a response to find out where the case will go," McNair said.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Lawsuit claims 'hostile work environment' at Erie Rise before closing