(Lakeside brochure)A federal judge last week dismissed the racial discrimination claims made by one of two African American teachers suing Lakeside School, the elite private institution that claims Bill Gates as an alumnus. ?Ultimately, Ms. [Novella] Coleman only offers subjective evidence to support her claims,? wrote U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez in an order that makes short work of the 900-plus pages of documents Coleman submitted since she and Chance Sims filed their case 16 months ago. Coleman comes across as a plaintative voice in those documents. ?I have lost control over my desire to not cry in public but have been reduced to tears at the thought of returning to Lakeside or even spending another moment there,? the math teacher wrote to administrators after she had decided to leave the school following complaints from parents about her teaching. The judge?s response: ?There simply does not exist a sufficient legal nexus between her personal struggles as a teacher and the conduct of Lakeside.?In fact, he opined, Lakeside attempted to address Coleman?s concerns about racism. The school met with parents of a student she felt had belittled her, invited Coleman to participate in a diversity committee and paid for her to attend a minority conference in Hawaii. It?s an irony of Coleman?s and Sims? suit that Lakeside is facing discrimination charges at the same time that it continues to push forward an aggressive diversity campaign. Martinez takes note of these efforts, and the fact that they began even before Coleman arrived. The ruling doesn?t seem to bode well for Sims, who still teaches history part-time at the school. Attorney Steve Fury, who represents both teachers, says that Sims? case is distinct in that he is charging that Lakeside retaliated against him for views he expressed about racial matters. The school subsequently placed him on probation.All in all, though, the judge offers vindication for Lakeside. That?s not to say that race is therefore a non-issue at the school. Interviews with current and former parents, students and teachers for a story last year suggested that the school?s obsession with diversity, for better or worse, lets nobody forget about it. The judge had no comment about that.