Former Teacher Gets OK to Continue Suit
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VENTURA — A former teacher at a county-run school for incarcerated teenagers can continue his wrongful-termination lawsuit against the Ventura County superintendent of schools office.
By refusing to review a lower court’s decision on the suit, the state Supreme Court this week allowed the case to proceed.
Robert LeVine maintains he was fired in 1995 because he told the Ventura County Grand Jury that the county schools office had understaffed McBride School, where LeVine worked. He alleged money earmarked for the Ventura school was being spent on students in other county programs.
The county schools office contends LeVine was fired for not showing for work and had brought his complaints to the grand jury only after his dismissal.
LeVine appealed after his suit was thrown out of Ventura County Superior Court in 1997. The 2nd District Court of Appeal reinstated the lawsuit last June, saying the events leading to LeVine’s firing could be viewed as “retaliatory.”
The county schools office asked the state Supreme Court to review the lower court’s decision, but its request was denied.
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