ELAINE Allyn has worked as the Director of Educational Technology for Fallbrook Union Elementary School District in San Diego County for about 18 years.
In early August 2011, Allyn’s boss, Ray Proctor, instructed her to wipe out the district’s entire electronic data imaging in the archive system and to wipe out all emails in the trash area of the active system. At that time, the district had a three-year retention policy. Allyn refused his order, telling him that this is a violation of state and federal laws.
Several weeks later, Allyn was again instructed to wipe out the district’s entire electronic data imaging from the archive system and to re-set email retention to 7 days, instead of 3 years. This time the instruction came from Candace Singh, the new district superintendent, who agreed with Proctor. Allyn again refused to follow this instruction.
Singh repeated her orders to Allyn to wipe out the email archives and re-set document retention to 1 year. Over Allyn’s strong objections, Singh said she would consult with counsel and deal with the school board regarding this issue. Threatened with insubordination, Allyn directed a consultant to help dismantle the archive system and shut down the email archive server.
In January 2012, Allyn was informed that a parent has complained against one of the male teachers in the district who was allegedly video-taping children. Allyn was ultimately asked to produce to the district investigator some archived files, but she could not do so because her bosses had ordered her to wipe out the archives. Allyn reported that it was Singh’s and Proctor’s decision to re-set the archive system to severely limit how far back electronic evidence could be obtained.
Later, Allyn was called into Proctor’s office to meet with him and the investigator. They asked her questions that indicated to Allyn she was now being targeted for investigation. Allyn was accused of accessing and reading employees’ emails, even though the school board policy authorized her, because of her position, to access emails and employee accounts without notice or consent. Allyn however denied “snooping” and accessed accounts only to troubleshoot them.
Allyn was terminated for allegedly hacking into the district’s computer system and prying into employee files. Allyn sued the district, claiming wrongful termination based on retaliation for refusing the bosses’ repeated orders to delete the email archives, for previously complaining about sexual harassment by Proctor, and for speaking about the costly remodel of Singh’s office that Allyn claimed was not properly disclosed to the school board.
The case went all the way to trial, which lasted 15 days. The 12 jurors took four hours to deliberate, and eventually found in favor of Allyn. They unanimously awarded Allyn $1,046,000 for lost income and $148,000 in damages for emotional distress. The district said it planned to appeal.
An employer may not terminate employees for an illegal reason. A “reason” is illegal if it violates public policy. This means the firing was motivated by the employee’s refusal to commit an illegal act, or the employee reported a violation of the law, e.g., “whistleblowing” where the employee reported employer’s illegal act to a government or law enforcement agency.
Lastly, a termination is unlawful if the employer retaliated against the employee for opposing unlawful practices, testifying or assisting in an investigation conducted by a government agency, or for filing complaints of harassment or discrimination.
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The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost. Atty. Sayas’ Law Office is located at 500 N. Brand Blvd. Suite 980, Glendale, CA 91203. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com.
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C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is trial attorney who has obtained several million dollar recoveries for his clients against employers and insurance companies. He has been selected as a Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, featured in the cover of Los Angeles Daily Journal’s Verdicts and Settlements, and is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum.