{"id":6174,"date":"2026-07-16T17:35:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T17:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6174"},"modified":"2026-07-16T17:35:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T17:35:34","slug":"buffalo-schools-official-accuses-ex-durham-superintendent-of-sexual-harassment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6174","title":{"rendered":"Buffalo schools official accuses ex-Durham superintendent of sexual harassment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) \u2014 A notice of claim was filed Thursday against former Buffalo Public Schools superintendent Pascal Mubenga and a board member alleging sexual harassment against both of them.<\/p>\n

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The claim, not yet a lawsuit and filed by attorney John Elmore and a New York City-based law firm, alleges that Mubenga and Lewis \u201cMuki\u201d Hawkins, who represents the Central District of the Buffalo school board, made \u201cunwanted advances\u201d at another district official, identified as Antoinette Amos, the district\u2019s equity and governance officer.<\/p>\n

Mubenga is accused of sexually harassing Amos on several occasions dating back to last December. In one incident, Mubenga is accused of placing Amos\u2019 hand on his genitals and told her he was \u201cin love\u201d with her. He is further accused of sending inappropriate text messages, including a photo he had taken of her during a virtual meeting.<\/p>\n

In one alleged incident in April, Mubenga sought to have Amos come to his office through his staff, \u201cone such summons was characterized to claimant as \u2018probably time for your daily molestation.’\u201d<\/p>\n

It is alleged that in June Amos was pointing out a window in Mubenga\u2019s conference room and Mubenga struck her on the buttocks. She responded by hitting Mubenga and telling him to stop.<\/p>\n

Mubenga abruptly resigned as superintendent earlier this week after less than a year on the job during a school board meeting on Monday.<\/p>\n

The board accepted the resignation and waived the typical 90-day notice period. Mubenga did not receive severance or a buyout. He had signed a four-year contract with a $285,000 annual salary in August 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe progression shows that this is a pattern of conduct,\u201d Amos\u2019 attorney Kristen Elmore-Garcia said. \u201cThere\u2019s not any one specific allegation that stands out as more egregious than the other. What is absolutely egregious is that this continuously occurred over months.\u201d <\/p>\n

In Hawkins\u2019 case, he is accused of sexually harassing Amos on several occasions dating back to February.<\/p>\n

In one alleged case in February, Amos drove Hawkins to his vehicle; during the incident Hawkins \u201cleaned back, spread his legs, rubbed the inside of his thigh, and stated \u2018tackle me.’\u201d He is accused of sending a text message later in the night saying \u201cI\u2019m glad you didn\u2019t tackle me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe forcible touching is an escalation by someone who feels comfortable in abusing their power, someone who does not feel as though they will be held accountable,\u201d Elmore-Garcia said.<\/p>\n

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He is also accused of sending inappropriate texts to Amos, showing up at her office unannounced, and spreading false statements that she was involved in an affair, including to board president Kathy Evans-Brown.<\/p>\n

An independent investigation against an unnamed board member began in June, but it was not confirmed at the time which board member was being investigated.<\/p>\n

In addition to his school board position Hawkins is the sports director at WUFO, a Buffalo radio station. He is also an area football coach.<\/p>\n

Amos is seeking monetary damages, damages for \u201cmental and emotional injury,\u201d as well as other punitive damages.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt it was important to be as thorough as possible with these allegations,\u201d Elmore-Garcia said. \u201cTo put the school district on notice early, that this was documented, that this was complained of, and in many instances witnessed by third parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

The claim comes at a turbulent time for the district and its board. The board already has an open seat after Cindi McEachon resigned from her North District seat last month, citing concerns about the board\u2019s practices as well as with accountability and transparency. Monday\u2019s meeting in which Mubenga resigned was initially called to discuss candidates for McEachon\u2019s former seat.<\/p>\n

The district is also facing the fallout from a viral video showing a violent altercation between a teacher\u2019s aide and a student, and overarching concern for a multimillion-dollar deficit.<\/p>\n

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MORE FROM CBS 17<\/h2>\n
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\t\tDURHAM COUNTY NEWS<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n

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\t\t\tEx-Durham superintendent accused of sexual harassment in Buffalo<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n


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\t\t\tDurham man sentenced for selling $120K+ in counterfeit clothes<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n


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In a response to WIVB News 4, the district cited its policy of not commenting on pending or potential litigation.<\/p>\n

Before moving to New York, Mubenga served as superintendent of Durham Public Schools from 2017 until his resignation in 2024.<\/p>\n

His departure from Durham came after the\u00a0district faced widespread criticism over payroll errors\u00a0that left hundreds of employees underpaid. The salary problems stemmed from the implementation of a new compensation plan approved by the school board.<\/p>\n

Read more British Open: Baldwin hits \u2018terrifying\u2019 opening shot after missing World Cup semi due to early start<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The claim alleges he made “unwanted advances” at another district official.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBuffalo schools official accuses ex-Durham superintendent of sexual harassment - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6174\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buffalo schools official accuses ex-Durham superintendent of sexual harassment - Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The claim alleges he made "unwanted advances" at another district official.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6174\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-16T17:35:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6174#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6174\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"headline\":\"Buffalo schools official accuses ex-Durham superintendent of sexual harassment\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-16T17:35:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6174\"},\"wordCount\":798,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6174#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9f62c5a0295285d850b451e495bc007d.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6174#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6174\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6174\",\"name\":\"Buffalo schools official accuses ex-Durham superintendent of sexual harassment - 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