The former elementary school principal who accused in a federal discrimination complaint that the Cherry Creek School District for years has harbored a culture of misogyny and racism has sued in federal court.

In a lawsuit filed late Monday in U.S. District Court in Denver, Linda Maccagnan said the district — consistently ranked among the best in Colorado — retaliated against her when she complained of discriminatory conduct she experienced or saw it occurring to others, which included unequal pay for women.

Maccagnan said she was forced to resign as a result.

Maccagnan’s lawsuit is nearly a mirror image of a Title IX complaint she filed with the U.S. Department of Education last year in which her allegations ranged from women administrators who are underpaid compared to men in similar positions with far less experience, to outright threats of firing to subordinates for reporting any misbehavior or conduct.

Maccagnan’s complaint is one of two Title IX investigations ongoing at the school district, which is also the focus of five other race discrimination inquiries, according to its website. Details of those inquiries are not public.

A spokesperson for the school district on Tuesday said it was aware of the lawsuit but would not comment on pending litigation.

“We stand by our statement in response to the Title IX complaint,” spokeswoman Abbe Smith said via email.

Before Maccagnan filed the Title IX complaint, the district had investigated her claims and deemed them unfounded.

“We are confident that we have the facts and documentation to prove to (the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights) that Ms. Maccagnan’s case is unfounded and that many of the allegations she makes are inaccurate and misleading,” the district had earlier said about the Title IX complaint.

Four members of the district’s school board — President Kelly Bates, Angela Garland, Janice McDonald and Anne Egan — are named as defendants, along with former member Karen Fisher. Also named as defendants are former Superintendent Scott Siegfried, Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Perry and Human Resources Director Brenda Smith.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

Maccagnan asserts in the lawsuit that she was wrongly demoted to assistant principal following years of positive performance evaluations as a principal. The demotion was approved by the school board, according to the lawsuit.

Maccagnan had been a principal at Challenge School in 2014 and High Plains Elementary in 2018 before she was demoted to assistant principal at Altitude Elementary School in 2020. She began at Cherry Creek in 1996 as a science teacher at Horizon Middle School.

District officials said the reason for the downgrade was that Maccagnan had “lost the confidence” of staff and parents at the two schools, according to the lawsuit.

But when similarly situated men were faced with their own troubles, the lawsuit notes, their discipline wasn’t as severe, with some offered pay increases while others received additional resources to help them along.

Maccagnan said she complained to Siegfried about the discrimination and harassment she saw happening. His alleged response: The district had “a lot of secrets.”

“Worse, he stated that he had windows put in all the doors at the (district’s) central office because of the constant sexual harassment,” the lawsuit alleges.

She also alleged that a male elementary school principal frequently made sexist jokes and flaunted the district’s mandate on wearing masks during the COVID-19 crisis by disregarding safety protocols, yet received no discipline despite complaints.

The Denver Gazette wrote about Maccagnan’s Title IX complaint and interviewed a number of other current employees who told of incidents they witnessed that included the sophomoric hijinks of men that were heavy with sexual or racist overtones and routinely tolerated because people feared speaking up.

The incidents included a meeting of elementary school principals and assistants where an administrator’s ugly sweater featured a snowman’s carrot nose set instead to appear as male genitalia. There was a photo widely circulated of a male fourth grade teacher wearing a sweatshirt with an image of Santa Claus and the words “Where my Ho’s at?” as several female teachers around him feigned surprise.

David Migoya is a senior investigative reporter at The Denver Gazette. You can reach him at david.migoya@gazette.com.