Man from India wins bias case against Garfield District

When Harshad P. Desai moved to Panguitch to run a hotel with his wife near Bryce Canyon, he decided he could put his two master's degrees to use by teaching in the public school system.

"It's something I can do and this community needs it," he remembers thinking. But in 2001 the Garfield School District deemed him unfit for hiring.

On Monday, the Utah Labor Commission announced that the district had discriminated against Desai, a substitute teacher applicant, based on his race, ethnicity, color and religion. According to the Labor Commission, Desai, who is now 58, had passed a criminal background check and was well-qualified for the job, which was advertised multiple times in the local newspaper. After submitting an application, Desai was invited to participate in a substitute teacher training session, but his name was later removed from a list of 26 applicants to be approved by the board, and he was notified by mail that the district was "not in need of his service."

The India native, who is a practicing Hindu, has two master's degrees, one in chemistry and the other in engineering. Desai had hoped to teach basic math, chemistry or science in Panguitch, which, he said, is mostly Caucasian and LDS.

Desai was the only applicant denied placement on the substitute teaching list, including some with "far less impressive resumes," according to the commission's written order, which states that a Realtor, cosmetologist and other people without college degrees were permitted to teach. During the same period, "the district had at times allowed persons with actual criminal charges, some involving minors, to remain on the substitute teacher list," according to the commission.

The Labor Commission further stated that "the evidence suggests that minority employees in the school district have not been hired into the teaching ranks, substitute or otherwise." The superintendent at the time, Myron Cottom, said the district did have two minority employees, both of whom were Hispanic. One worked as a janitor, the other as a secretary.

Officials with the Garfield School District did not return calls for comment to the Deseret News on Tuesday, but a temporary secretary mentioned that they had not heard anything about the official ruling made on Aug. 27. The district has the right to appeal the commission's decision and has 30 days from the date of the decision to do so.