EASTHAMPTON — Vito Perrone, whose 2023 offer to head Easthampton Public Schools was rescinded over his use of the word “ladies” in an email, is suing the city and the five members of the School Committee who voted to take back his offer.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Springfield, says that the rescinded contract was worth $151,000 annually and alleges that Perrone suffered lost wages, loss of employment and retirement benefits, loss of employment opportunities and damage to his reputation as well as humiliation, personal distress and the burden of litigation fees.

The lawsuit calls the defendants’ conduct “unconstitutional and illegal,” as they rescinded Perrone’s three-year offer shortly after it was made without proof that he was “in material breach of the employment contract — a prerequisite to contract rescission under Massachusetts law.”

The amount requested in the lawsuit is $300,000, but the lawsuit asks that a judge or jury determine the full amount of damages.

Perrone, a former Easthampton High School principal who was serving as interim superintendent in West Springfield when he applied for the Easthampton job, has since been hired as superintendent of the Hampshire Regional School District.

Perrone is being represented by attorney Jim Winston, who was his sole representative when the contract was first rescinded. Winston is working with attorney Raymond Dinsmore of Haber, McKenna and Dinsmore in Springfield. Perrone directed requests for comment to Winston and Dinsmore, who declined to comment at this time.

The individuals named in the lawsuit are Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, Cynthia Kwiecinski, former chair of the Easthampton School Committee, Marin Goldstein, a former Easthampton School Committee member, as well as Megan Harvey and Benjamin Hersey who are current members of the School Committee.

In response to a request for comment, LaChapelle said “we just got the complaint, and we’re taking a look,” declining to comment further at this time.

Kwiecinski, Harvey and Hersey did not respond to requests for comment. Marin Goldstein could not be reached for comment, and attorney Jeff Trapani, who is serving as legal representation for the city, did not respond immediately for comment on Thursday.

Perrone was offered the Easthampton superintendent position on March 24, 2023 pending successful contract negotiations, after police were sent to Perrone’s house for a “well-being check” when the committee was unable to reach him when they called at 12:30 a.m. to offer him the job.

After reviewing the contract, Perrone emailed three requests to Chairperson Cynthia Kwiecinski and Suzanne Colby, executive assistant to the committee. He requested additional cost of living adjustments to yearly salaries, as well as additional vacation and sick days, citing that he had accrued sick days during his previous six years working in the district.

In this email, he addressed Kwiecinski and Colby as “ladies,” which, according to minutes from the March 30 meeting during which Perrone’s contract was rescinded, Kwiecinski saw as “unprofessional and dismissive,” which Goldstein, Harvey, Hersey and LaChapelle agreed with. Concerns also were expressed during the meeting about Perrone’s desired salary increases and the additional time off he requested.

Perrone stated during this meeting that it was not his intent to be disrespectful, and that he did not perceive “ladies” to be an insult.

Kwiecinski responded that the committee did not want to hire “someone who needs to be chastised,” and that she was surprised he didn’t recognize the term as offensive.

The situation grabbed national attention over the committee’s focus on Perrone’s use of the word “ladies” as a microaggression. During this time, the lawsuit alleges that Perrone was portrayed as “an oppressor” and “sexist” because of his use of the term.

These events also were discussed during Perrone’s public interview process at the Hampshire Regional School District, when he brought up the situation unprompted. The committee members appreciated his candid nature in bringing up the former controversy, and ultimately decided to offer him the job at the meeting held on June 5, 2024.

Perrone has been serving as Hampshire Regional’s superintendent since then.

Easthampton Public Schools has been under the leadership of interim superintendent Maureen Binienda since the controversy, and is now in the midst of a search for her permanent replacement. The School Committee anticipates naming a new superintendent as early as December.

Alexa Lewis can be reached at alewis@gazettenet.com.