The use of the word “ladies” in addressing two female officials caused a Massachusetts school board to rescind a job offer for superintendent to the district’s former principal—igniting social media backlash, street rallies, a recall petition, and even death threats.
“Shame on the school committee for participating in cancel culture!” wrote the Easthampton Education Association in a Facebook post slamming the decision to recant the job offer to Vito Perrone, who currently serves as an interim superintendent at the nearby West Springfield schools.
Perrone announced publicly that the board had rescinded their offer in an executive session because he had committed a “microaggression” by sending an email to the Easthampton School Committee Chair Cynthia Kwiecinski and the committee’s Executive Assistant Suzanne Colby in which he addressed them with the greeting as “Dear Ladies.”…