Source: Orange County Register
Capistrano Unified Superintendent A. Woodrow Carter addresses the school board at a March meeting, just hours before trustees fired him.
SANTA ANA - A jury could be asked to decide next year whether the recently fired superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District is entitled to nearly $490,000 in back pay for an alleged breach of contract.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Steven Perk today scheduled a settlement conference for May 21, 2010, and a jury trial for June 7, 2010, to resolve a lawsuit brought by former Superintendent A. Woodrow Carter that argues he should be paid for 18 months remaining on his three-year employment contract, plus 10 percent interest and attorneys' fees.
Carter was terminated in March by a unanimous school board vote.
"Defendant breached plaintiff's employment agreement on March 9, 2009, by failing to comply with the mandatory buy-out provisions … of plaintiff's employment agreement with defendant," Carter's attorney, William Schaeffer, said in court papers.
The lawsuit asks for damages equal to half of Carter's three-year, $974,850 contract, which was set to expire June 2011. Carter actually had two years and four months remaining on the contract, but state law prohibits him from seeking more than 18 months' compensation.
Carter's employment contract does not explicitly grant him any back pay if he is fired, but says he is entitled to seek up to 18 months' compensation under state law.
The school district, in its written response to the lawsuit, said it didn't breach the agreement and doesn't owe Carter any more money.
Both parties have agreed to a jury trial if necessary. Carter's attorney said in court papers he was planning to complete written discovery by October. The school district's attorney said he would finish written discovery by December and witness depositions by March 2010.
Carter, a retired Army colonel, was fired March 9 after a tumultuous, 18-month tenure at the helm of Orange County's second largest school district.
Capistrano's school board released a scathing, 54-page termination report that painted Carter as an insubordinate, scheming administrator who tried to sway school board elections and double-bill the district for travel expenses.
Carter also was accused of showing "disturbing disregard" for student confidentiality matters, violating school board policies and state laws, and deliberately working to undermine and embarrass the school board.
Carter refuted the allegations in a 23-page rebuttal.
The district, meanwhile, spent $66,758 in legal fees in December, January and February to fire Carter on March 9, according to invoices from the school board's law firm.
Six individuals have filled Capistrano's top administrative spot in the past three years. One resigned after less than a month, citing "uncertainty and instability." Another former schools chief, James Fleming, is scheduled to face a jury in October on charges he used district resources to illegally create "enemies" lists of parents who opposed the school board.
Bobbi Mahler serves as interim superintendent; no candidates have been identified to take the post permanently.
