The retrial involving a former Norfolk Academy teacher who claims she was reassigned to a position outside the classroom because of her race began Tuesday with the longtime educator representing herself.

Joan Allison, who is Black, was a teacher at the prestigious private school for 22 years, instructing third grade boys during her entire tenure. She sued the school and its longtime headmaster in 2020 after being told she could no longer be a homeroom teacher and would have to take on a new role.

Norfolk Academy has said the reason for the reassignment was because of an “unprecedented number” of troubling complaints parents had made about her treatment of their sons in recent years. Allison has said it was due to her continually challenging the school to do more in its dealings with issues involving race.

In the spring of 2019, Headmaster Dennis Manning offered Allison the newly created position of social justice curriculum coordinator after discussing other job possibilities with her. Allison initially accepted the offer, which came with a slight pay raise, then rejected it weeks later and resigned. She filed her lawsuit a year later.

The case first went to trial in November, with Allison, Manning, and numerous teachers, administrators and parents of students she’d taught among the witnesses who testified. A mistrial was declared after the jury reported it was deadlocked at 7-1, with the panel leaning in favor of the school. Juries in civil trials only have to have seven members.

Thomas Shumaker, Allison’s attorney in the first trial, asked to withdraw from the case a few weeks later, citing “irreconcilable differences” between himself and his client, and his belief that he could not “continue in good faith.” Allison responded by sending a letter to the court complaining about Shumaker’s handling of the case and asking for a list of lawyers that might be willing to take it on at no charge.

She also wrote that she was having trouble finding a new lawyer because so many of the ones she’d reached out to had a conflict because of their connections to the school.

Allison has been proceeding on her own since then. While there have been hiccups along the way — like some of the witness subpoenas she issued being quashed because she’d sent them out too late — the case moved along smoothly Tuesday with jury selection, opening arguments and Allison calling herself as her first witness.

U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen told Allison she initially planned to have her testify from the witness stand, but agreed to allow her to stay at the lawyer’s podium so she could present documents on a screen for jurors to see. She was required to go to the witness stand, however, for cross examination.

While objections are typically frequent when a non-lawyer is representing themselves at trial, defense attorney Charles Meyer only objected once on Tuesday, with the judge overruling him.

“How am I doing your honor?” Allison asked the judge at one point. “So far, so good,” Allen responded.

The trial will continue Wednesday with Meyer continuing his cross examination of Allison. It’s expected to last several days.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com