Palmerton legal bills over $150K

Palmerton Area School District spent over $150,000 on legal bills pertaining to the termination hearing and lawsuits involving high school Principal Paula Husar, according to information obtained through a recent Right To Know request.

Husar was suspended in September 2017 when Superintendent Scot Engler recommended her dismissal based on over 20 charges, including that she returned confiscated tobacco to a student following a field trip, falsely accused Engler on a number of occasions and had continued disciplinary issues, among other things. Over the course of a year-and-a-half, Palmerton’s board heard testimony on the charges and ultimately upheld her suspension for a nine month period and reinstated her immediately.

According to the financial information provided by the district, from March 2017 to April 2019, the district paid $101,480.95 to Sweet, Stevens, Katz, and Williams LLP for costs related to Husar’s termination proceedings.

For the first several nights of the hearing, the district had two Palmerton Borough police officers present, which cost a total of $2,494.84.

The district also has to pay Robert Yurchak, who served as hearing officer. His bill, submitted to the district Wednesday, was $14,240.

Lawsuits

According to the RTK, Palmerton paid the law firm Marshall Dennehey $45,625.92 to defend the district against two lawsuits filed by Husar in Carbon County Court. Business Manager Ryan Kish said the district has met its deductible in both cases and will only pay a percentage moving forward, with insurance covering the rest.

In November 2016, Husar alleged negligence and breach of contract in a civil suit filed in the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas.

The action came after she was interviewed earlier that year by members of the school board regarding the job performance of Engler, whose contract was being considered for renewal.

“Despite the assurances by the district’s school board that (Husar’s) comments regarding Mr. Engler’s job performance would remain confidential, the district communicated the opinions to Mr. Engler and others,” Husar’s attorneys John Dean and Mark Bufalino wrote in the complaint.

Engler released a year-end evaluation of Husar on June 23, 2016. According to the lawsuit, Husar earned 1.15 total points and Engler deemed the evaluation unsatisfactory. The evaluation was later changed to unsatisfactory.

Also in November 2016, Husar filed a gender discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment, age discrimination and retaliation claim against the district and Engler before the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.

After Husar’s comments about Engler’s job performance were revealed, her attorneys argued, “she faced harassing, hostile and discriminatory comments.”

The district paid Marshall Dennehey $9,237.89 for legal bills related to the PHRC complaint.

On April 28, 2017, Husar filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. Middle District Court claiming retaliation by Engler and the district.

In the complaint, Husar said she received a three-day suspension for “alleged improper handling of a school bus investigation” on April 19, one day after oral arguments in the Carbon County Court case.

In September 2017, Husar was suspended without pay when Engler recommended her dismissal to the school board and cited over 20 charges against her. The charges included persistent negligence in the performance of her duties, intentionally attempting to discredit Engler by making false and derogatory comments about him, failing to comply with a board policy related to field trips and the appropriate number of chaperones, and returning tobacco to a student, among others.

Palmerton’s board voted to uphold nine months of Husar’s suspension, ending it on June 7, 2018, and reinstating her as principal.

While the county court case and the PHRC complaint have since been rolled into the federal lawsuit, Husar has a case related to her termination hearing still pending in Carbon County court. She sued the district March 1, 2018, alleging Palmerton violated the state’s Sunshine Act by posting a note on and locking the door to the district administration building at the beginning of a hearing.

At a court hearing on the matter, Engler testified he made the request for the door to be locked due to security concerns at a previous hearing on a suspension for Husar. Husar alleged, however, that the locked door violated her right to a public hearing.