Gomes Sues to Regain His Position : Jurisprudence: Former Thousand Oaks offensive coordinator claims he was forced to resign.

Paul Gomes, Thousand Oaks High’s top assistant football coach who left the team last month under a shroud of controversy, filed suit Wednesday against Lancer Coach Bob Richards and school and district officials, charging he was forced to resign and was professionally damaged.

In a suit filed at Ventura County Superior Court, Gomes, a 1977 Thousand Oaks graduate and 14-year Lancer coach, is seeking reinstatement as the team’s offensive coordinator and to have the incident stricken from his record.

Raymond C. Clayton, a Thousand Oaks attorney representing Gomes, said no monetary damages are being sought at this time.

“What has happened to me is completely wrong,” Gomes said. “I have been completely damaged. My family has been damaged. Everything about me has been damaged.”

Gomes, 33, has filed suit against the Conejo Valley Unified School District, Thousand Oaks Principal Keith Wilson, Assistant Principal Carroll Holly, Athletic Director Jim O’Brien, Richards and William Seaver, the district’s superintendent.

Wilson and Seaver were not available for comment Wednesday. Holly, the school’s administrator in charge of athletics, said: “We’ve been saying all along that it is a personnel matter and we are not to discuss it.”

In his declaration, Gomes claims that “controversy and disagreement over the propriety of playing the son of Coach Bob Richards in a starting position and as a principal player” disrupted the team throughout the season. The Lancers finished a disappointing 4-5-1 overall--tied for fourth in the Marmonte League at 4-3--and failed to qualify for the Southern Section playoffs for the first time since 1983.

Rob Richards, the coach’s son, was a senior linebacker this season. Bob Richards declined to discuss the matter. “I have no comment,” he said.

Gomes, who helped lead the Lancers to five league titles in the past seven years, left the team Nov. 3, citing a “policy disagreement with the football program.” School administrators claimed Gomes resigned to pursue a master’s degree. However, Gomes later denied he had resigned, and many parents have charged that Gomes was pressured to resign for cursing a player.

Gomes’ declaration claims he was summoned late in the season to Holly’s office and was told a parent had complained about verbal abuse he allegedly had directed toward a player.

The parent and player were not identified, Gomes said.

Gomes declares that at a meeting with the principal a week later, “Wilson then told me that I had several choices: that I could resign, be suspended or be fired.” Gomes also declares Wilson threatened to have him arrested if he attempted to return to campus during football practice.

Clayton said he has exhausted all efforts to resolve the matter with district and school officials.

“A terrible injustice has been done,” Clayton said. “We are now pursuing this (matter) in . . . Superior Court.”