Officials Accused of Harassment File Suit : School board: Richard Donoghue and Joyce Capelle allege defamation and invasion of privacy by Orange Unified officials in ‘instigating’ probe to tar them.

Two top Orange school officials who were accused of sexual harassment filed suit Friday against the district, its acting superintendent, two of its attorneys and an unidentified board member, charging defamation and invasion of privacy.

The suit alleges that district officials retaliated against Richard L. Donoghue, deputy superintendent for support services, and Joyce Capelle, chief financial officer, by “instigating” an investigation designed to produce the allegations.

Donoghue, 48, was accused by employees of inappropriate touching of employees and sexually offensive language; Capelle, 43, was accused of tolerating sexual banter. The allegations were made to attorneys for the Orange Unified School District.

The suit charges that this action was engineered by Marilyn Corey, the district’s acting superintendent, and that an unidentified school board member then leaked vague allegations throughout the district and to the press.

Acting at Corey’s direction, the suit charges, the attorneys for the district, Mary Jo McGrath and Marcia Haber, “conducted suggestive interviews” of district employees. In these interviews, the two attorneys presented “distorted or fabricated examples” of inappropriate conduct, and “insinuated and intimated” that Donoghue and Capelle engaged in improper conduct which either never happened or wasn’t perceived as objectionable by the employees.

McGrath responded that the “Board of Education has a very detailed procedure for handling employee personnel matters. In that process, the truth will be revealed. No sleight-of-hand or fancy mirror work needs to take place. The truth will come out. This is a workplace and a group of adults that can speak for themselves. . . . There are no mysteries here.”

She said of the lawsuit, “You create a little brush fire, and try to divert attention away from the substance.”

In a separate action, Donoghue and Capelle filed damage claims against the district asking for $10 million each. The lawsuit can go forward only if the district rejects the claim.

“We want to get into court quickly,” said Dale Gronemeier, the attorney representing Donoghue and Capelle.

The two have been placed on “home assignment” since Nov. 23, pending results of the investigation.

Meanwhile, a meeting slated for Friday afternoon between McGrath and Gronemeier, Capelle and Donoghue was suddenly canceled. As allegations emerged earlier this week, McGrath had said the administrators would be confronted with specific allegations Friday.

McGrath would not comment on the reason for canceling the meeting.

Gronemeier, however, cited the cancellation as another example of unfair treatment of his clients.

“They are unwilling to provide my clients with the specifics of the accusations,” said Gronemeier said. “It’s unconscionable.”

Corey did not respond to a telephone message left with her office. She is expected to recommend what further action, if any, to take against the administrators at a board meeting Thursday.