Former Coach of High School Cheerleaders Sues 6 Parents : Canyon Country: The teacher, who also filed a lawsuit against the district, contends she was defamed. She seeks total damages of $6.5 million.

The disgruntled former cheerleading coach from Canyon High School who filed a claim against the school district a week ago also has sued six parents of cheerleaders, her attorney said Friday.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in April, blames the parents for damage to coach Cynthia Wheat’s reputation, for emotional distress and for several “unfounded charges,” including that she tried to seduce a male student.

That insinuation was made at an April, 1991, meeting called by parents angry about Wheat’s appointment of eight cheerleading captains before she held open tryouts for the remainder of the squad.

The seduction allegations and other complaints by parents about her performance ultimately led to her dismissal as a coach last winter and as an English teacher in June, the suit contends.

If the claim against the district evolves into a lawsuit, as her attorney Stan Stern said he believes it will, the two suits will seek an estimated $6.5 million in damages. Stern said the large amount is intended “to punish the people” who Wheat contends defamed her, but he declined to specify how the sum would be broken down among parents and school officials.

The cheerleaders’ parents named in the suit were Gail and Philip Eddy, Connie Froeberg, Sandra J. Hay, Donna Schweiger and Lynne Siemsen.

One of the parents, who asked not to be identified, said she was not aware of the suit. She described Wheat as a “wonderful English teacher but a terrible coach,” who grossly mishandled the uproar that followed her appointment of captains. She said parents should not be blamed for Wheat’s dismissal at the Canyon Country school.

“That’s all her own fault,” she said.

The woman and several others close to the situation, who asked to remain anonymous for fear they too would be sued, said the lawsuit is vindictive and Wheat should back off for the sake of former and remaining cheerleaders upset by the resurrected conflict.

William S. Hart Union High School District officials have declined to comment on the suit against the parents or the claim against the district, acknowledging only that Wheat is no longer a teacher at Canyon High.

Paul Pedavilla--the student who was allegedly the subject of Wheat’s advances--was named in one of the lawsuit’s counts. After the allegations were made at the April, 1991, meeting, Pedavilla openly denied he had been seduced by Wheat. His denial caused school officials to clear Wheat of any wrongdoing.

Stern, however, said he included Pedavilla in the suit because “he may have gone along with it for a time before switching sides.”

Wheat, 28, began working at the school as a probationary teacher in the fall of 1990, after teaching for several years in Texas. She has temporarily returned to Texas to complete doctoral work, according to her attorney and friends, and could not be reached for comment.

Wheat lost her coaching job in January, Stern said, and in February received notice that she would be dismissed at the end of the school year, in June.

Last week, Stern filed a claim against the school district and several Canyon High employees, which alleged that Canyon Principal Bill White had not allowed Wheat to have a hearing concerning her dismissal and had violated her civil rights by inquiring about whether she had contacted the National Organization for Women to discuss her case.

That claim calls for Wheat to be reinstated as a teacher and paid more than $10,000 in damages. If its demands are not met, Stern said he will file suit against the district.