AG Tong Civil Rights Investigation Finds No Discriminatory Employment Pattern or Practice in Greenwich Schools

Attorney General William Tong announced on Friday that his office has concluded its investigation into the possibility of discriminatory employment practices by former Greenwich Public Schools educator Jeremy Boland.

Last August Project Veritas published secret recordings of Mr. Boland, then Assistant Principal of Cos Cob School, where he claimed to screen teacher candidates by their age and religion, preferring to hire candidates younger than 30 years of age, and preferring not to hire Catholics. The videos, which went viral, were released just as campaign season was heating up

Tong’s investigation was the third investigation to find no evidence that the schools engaged in a pattern or practice of illegal employment discrimination. The investigation is now closed.

AG Tong’s was the third investigation to conclude there was no evidence of discrimination in hiring in Greenwich Schools.

In August, the Town of Greenwich released a 56-page report based on an independent investigation authorized by First Selectman Fred Camillo into hiring practices at Greenwich Schools. It found no evidence of systematic discrimination on the basis of age, religion or political affiliation by Greenwich Schools.. The investigation cost Greenwich taxpayers $346,000.

And prior to that, in July the school district’s Human Resources officer, Jonathan Budd, Ph.D, found no evidence of discriminatory intent or outcome.

Dr. Budd, in an 59-page report, went through a list of Greenwich Public Schools policies and determined they were likely not violated, including the GPS policy against discrimination, but rather it was Mr. Boland’s admitted “grandstanding” and “embellishment” to impress an individual that caused the lasting damage.

On Friday, Attorney General Tong sent a letter to Greenwich Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones summarizing the investigation and its findings.

That letter has also been shared publicly on the Office of the Attorney General website for access by any interested individuals.

The Office of the Attorney General reviewed 61,105 pages of documents produced by the Greenwich Public Schools, including documents from Boland’s email accounts and electronic devices.

Investigators interviewed Boland, as well as 32 witnesses, including current and retired Greenwich Public School administrators and teachers, unsuccessful applicants for positions, as well as witnesses who proactively contacted the Office of the Attorney General to volunteer information.

Investigators reviewed all publicly available video posted by Project Veritas.

Project Veritas declined to produce additional non-public video or contact information for the anonymous individual featured in their video.

“The Office of the Attorney General stands ready to protect the civil rights of Connecticut residents. We will respond to patterns and practices of civil rights violations with investigations and litigation wherever warranted. We find no evidence of actionable violations here,” Attorney General Tong stated in his letter.

On Friday afternoon Greenwich Schools Superintendent Dr. Jones sent the following to Deputy Associate Attorney General Gregory O’Connell in response to Attorney General Tong’s letter:

“Thank you very much for forwarding me a copy of the full report. We are grateful for the professionalism of your office and the way in which the investigation was conducted last school year without impacting our daily instruction or school operations.”

Greenwich Free Press -

AG Tong Civil Rights Investigation Finds No Discriminatory Employment Pattern or Practice in Greenwich Schools

By: greenwichfreepress | September 8, 2023