Officials have confirmed that the principal of a Manhattan high school has resigned after he was accused of pressing his groin against the leg of a male teacher at a holiday party.
A complaint against openly gay Lower Manhattan Academy of the Arts director Derek Premo, 47, was published by the New York Post six months ago. It was filed by special education teacher John Colin with the state’s human rights department.
As of Friday, the case at the state level is still pending, according to the Department of Education.
On Wednesday, Manhattan High School Superintendent Vivienne Orlen sent out an email to families notifying them that Premo, who earned $183,854, had resigned.
Orlen said Premo has increased the school’s graduation rate and “over the top” during the pandemic.
Lower Manhattan Academy of the Arts director Derek Premo, 47, resigned following allegations of sexual harassment against a male teacher at a holiday party in 2019.
On Wednesday, Manhattan High School superintendent Vivienne Orlen sent out an email to families of students at the Lower Manhattan Academy of the Arts (pictured), notifying them that Premo had retired.
“I know many of you will miss him,” he said.
Daisy Fontanes, Associate Director of the Department of Education, will continue to serve as Director. Premo has been on vacation since Thanksgiving.
According to Colin’s complaint, Premo approached Colin and two teachers at Pianos, a bar on the Lower East Side, during a meeting on December 19, 2019.
The director pressed his groin against Colin’s leg under a bar-high table and maintained that contact throughout the 20-minute conversation, the complaint says.
“It was very uncomfortable because I could feel his penis on my leg and he was tilting his face very close to mine… VERY uncomfortable,” Colin said. Message.
“Then he started telling me about how he and his husband loved to party,” Colin wrote, saying that Premo emphasized the word “party” and “looked right in my eyes when he said it.”
In the complaint, teacher John Collins alleges that Premo, pictured, pressed his groin against Colin’s leg under a crossbar-high table and maintained that contact throughout a 20-minute conversation on December 19, 2019.
Colin told the publication that he waited until the peak of the COVID pandemic to file a lawsuit against his boss, saying the sexual harassment workshop made him uncomfortable. As witnesses, he named two teachers who allegedly witnessed the collision.
Previously, Premo was accused of inappropriately touching a student and “doing [them] feels uncomfortable” at his former job, the Upper East Side Life Sciences High School, but officials said the complaint was unfounded.
Previously, Premo (pictured) was accused of inappropriately touching a student and that she “did [them] feel uncomfortable” at his former workplace, a life sciences high school on the Upper East Side.
Amid an investigation into Premo’s behavior at a 2019 holiday party, he allowed 27-year-old social science teacher Gabriel Mitya (pictured) to continue teaching after he posted a near-naked photo of himself with a towel covering his groin on Snapchat.
Premo also came under fire for allowing 27-year-old social studies teacher Gabriel Mitya to continue teaching at the school after he posted a near-naked photo on Snapchat with a towel covering his groin.
Students who followed him on the platform took screenshots and told the Post they were “shocked.”
Generally, a teacher who is accused of sexual harassment is immediately suspended in accordance with the procedure of the Ministry of Education.
Recently, a male graduate also accused Mitya of sexually harassing him during his senior year, telling the Post that a teacher started texting him about extracurricular matters, such as “asking how my day was” and asked him to meet in the summer. after he finished “coffee at home, maybe eat”.
Despite this, Premo allowed Mitya to stay in the class.
In November, LOMA students held a sit-in demanding Mitya’s resignation. According to the Post, the Department of Education “reassigned” him, but he remains on the city’s payroll.