The Brandon School District has faced a turbulent year so far and the troubles appear to be continuing.
The Brandon Board of Education, aka Brandon School District, and Superintendent Tom Miller, along with Marian Horowitz, current Boardmember Beth Nuccio and former boardmembers Ken Quisenberry and Gina Muzzarelli, have been named in a lawsuit filed by June Wuopio, a former employee of the district.
The suit was prompted for retaliation in violation of Wuopio’s rights to freedom of speech under the Michigan Constitution and under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution; for violation of her statutory rights under the Bullard-Plawecki Act; and for violation of her due process rights under the United States Constitution, according to the 13-page complaint, filed in Oakland County Circuit Court on Feb. 21.
‘The bottom line is our client voluntarily took part in a community-based committee to evaluate who the next superintendent of the schools should be,? said Attorney Sarah Prescott, who is representing Wuopio, along with Attorney Deborah Gordon. ‘She spoke out at a meeting and said who she felt should be superintendent and that wasn’t popular with the board. Her personal views about who would best serve the community were not welcomed and after that, she went from being a longtime employee to being run out of the system after being demoted.?
Prescott noted that they were required to seek at least $25,000 in damages in order to file at the circuit court level, but stressed that is only a threshold amount and they will be seeking damages ‘substantially? beyond that, including all of Wuopio’s backpay totalling more than a year, as well as everything going forward in terms of the pay she is earning today as well as what she would be earning had she not been discharged, as well as for emotional distress, punitive damages, and attorney fees. They also plan to seek an injunction ordering the defendants to ‘stop their wrongful conduct and reinstate her to her position.?
According to the complaint, Wuopio began employment with the district in 1980 as a substitute teacher, was hired as the youth enrichment coordinator for the 1980-1981 school year and in 1987 was promoted to community education director for the district. Over the course of Wuopio’s employment with the district, she was promoted numerous times and received substantial raises annually.
The complaint goes on to state that around Jan. 1, 2005, the district began a search for a new superintendent and Wuopio joined a committee that was formed at the request of the school board to provide feedback in the search. The two final candidates were Miller and Nancy Campbell. During a special meeting on or about Feb. 16, 2005, the complaint said that it became quickly clear the board favored Miller. Wuopio and many other members of the community recommended Campbell, and after Wuopio made a statement to that effect, the complaint alleges that Quisenberry ‘glared? at Wuopio and threatened her verbally.
Miller was hired and subsequently hired Horowitz as assistant superintendent of instruction and curriculum. The suit alleges that following her hiring in August 2005, Horowitz immediately engaged in an aggressive campaign of harassment and intimidation directed at Wuopio, while Miller dismissed Wuopio’s concerns about harassment.
She refused to resign and on or about April 10, 2006, while Wuopio was on sick leave as a result of harassment by Horowitz, the board approved the elimination of her position effective June 30, 2006. On April 14, Wuopio requested a transfer to the position of Brandon Fletcher Intermediate School principal, which was being vacated by the retiring Don Patrick, but Miller said he wanted her to take a newly created position as assistant principal at Brandon Middle School. Wuopio was confirmed to the new position on May 22, 2006 and returned to work in June. Only a few days later, she was told by Miller that after a close scrutiny of Head Start records, which Wuopio had been responsible for, it would be better if she were not around. He told her around July 31, 2006 that he was going to the board with a recommendation to terminate her. After a year of harassment, Wuopio resigned Aug. 9, 2006.
‘We hope the school board will see how bad she was treated and settle, but if not, we’ll pursue it into court,? Prescott said.
Miller could not be reached for comment at press time.
Beth Nuccio, named in the complaint, said community education positions are generally the first to get cut when times are tough. She noted that Pam Schoemer took over the position and was also a director of special education, which Wuopio was not qualified for.
‘To be honest, I don’t know what happened, because the board doesn’t deal with it,? Nuccio said. ‘That’s why we hire a superintendent, to make those decisions. We approved the reassignment and saving of the money. I think this is unfortunate, but if June feels this is what she needs to do, then this is what she needs to do. I’m not concerned. It just goes back to it’s really too bad that a lot of what is going on in Brandon really reflects the times in Michigan. People are getting desperate and that is unfortunate for all of us.?