Carpet diem: California teacher removed for flooring controversy sues district

Jennah Pendleton, The Sacramento Bee on Apr 15, 2026

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento teacher who was removed from her position after allegedly allowing students to wield hammers and a crowbar to help her tear up classroom carpet last year is suing her employer for sex- and race-based discrimination, retaliation, emotional distress and defamation.

In her complaint, former Phoebe Hearst Elementary School teacher Jeanine Rupert alleges that Sacramento City Unified School District “bureaucrats were intent on destroying” her reputation, initiating a “kangaroo-court investigation to justify an outcome that had already been determined.”

Rupert and her legal team are alleging that her reassignment to another school in the district was a matter of retaliating against her for opposing then-assistant superintendent Aprille Shafto’s proposed changes to Phoebe Hearst’s kindergarten program.

“Mrs. Rupert simply did what any nurturing, caring, teacher or parent would do to protect her children, she tried to eliminate a disgusting and filthy health hazard when the District bureaucrats refused to act,” the complaint reads. “For this, the District severely punished Mrs. Rupert, not because her actions warranted severe punishment, but because the bureaucrats whose unsound plans she had successfully challenged in the past spotted an opportunity for retribution.”

The lawsuit was filed in Sacramento Superior Court on Friday. She was granted permission to sue by the California Civil Rights Department after the district denied her November administrative complaint seeking $2.3 million in damages against a district scraping for every dollar it can save in the face of a fiscal crisis.

The lawsuit is the latest headache the carpet-controversy has caused the district. In the months since Rupert was placed on leave, families have tirelessly rallied on her behalf — holding rallies at school board meetings, keeping their kids home from school and initiating a recall campaign against then-Board President Jasjit Singh, who represents the area where Phoebe Hearst is located.

The group’s momentum has slowed considerably in 2026. A source close to the recall campaign but not authorized to discuss it said that it was unlikely that they would get the 6,300 signatures required to recall Singh.

The district’s legal counsel is reviewing the complaint, district spokesperson Al Goldberg said in a statement Monday. He added that the district cannot comment on the allegations in the filing.

“Sacramento City Unified School District remains committed to maintaining safe, supportive learning environments for students and respectful workplaces for staff,” he wrote. “We will respond to the complaint through the appropriate legal process.”

Teacher claims carpet controversy was a witch hunt

On the last day of school in 2025, the longtime Phoebe Hearst teacher attempted to remove a strip of carpet, which she claims in her lawsuit was in dirty and unsafe condition. She supervised students as they used borrowed hand tools in an attempt to rip the fabric from the floor.

Rupert did not believe she would be prohibited from removing the carpet herself because male colleagues told her they had done similar work in their classrooms, the complaint alleges. Her lawyer argues that Rupert is being discriminated against based on race and sex because she received disproportionate discipline from male employees of a different race.

Rupert was put on leave after the district became aware of the situation. An August disciplinary letter obtained via public records request showed that the botched carpet removal caused $22,000 in damages, with the majority of the cost attributed to asbestos abatement and removal.

The complaint alleges that district personnel’s concern over asbestos exposure was feigned to justify disciplining Rupert.

“The District’s conclusions were so far-fetched and unfounded that one cannot assume they were simply stupid,” the complaint reads. “Rather, they were reached for the purpose of exacting revenge, retaliating against Mrs. Rupert, and discriminating against her in violation of the law.”

She is also alleging that the district defamed her by accusing her of felony vandalism in her disciplinary letter, which was released to several news outlets via public records request.

Among the defendants named in the suit are members of the board, who are chastised in the complaint for holding “prejudices” against the Phoebe Hearst community. The suit claims one board member discounted the parents’ concerns by calling them “privileged.”

“The bureaucratic administrators dug in their heels to avoid embarrassment, and a fine teacher was burned at the stake like a Salem witch,” the complaint reads.

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