Loser in Schools Chief Election Files Claim Over Loss of Job : Courts: Dan Flynn, who lost a June bid for county superintendent’s position, says firing was politically motivated. He launches a $3-million action.

A former principal who was fired after challenging county schools chief Charles Weis in the June election has filed a claim for more than $3 million in damages against Weis and the Ventura County Board of Education.

As the first step toward a lawsuit, Dan Flynn’s legal claim demands $3 million from the county schools office and an unspecified amount from Weis as punitive damages for the July 1 firing.

Weis and the county board will consider the claim in closed session Monday.

But Weis said Thursday he will recommend the board reject the claim, even if Flynn follows through on his threat to sue.

“We’re certainly not going to pay the claim, I don’t think,” Weis said. “So, yes, I think we’ll go to court. I think the claim is frivolous.”

Weis effectively fired Flynn by refusing to renew Flynn’s contract as principal of the three county schools for juvenile offenders who are in jail or on probation.

Flynn had held the $62,000-a-year job for three years. His firing came just three weeks after he lost his bid for Weis’ job, sparking charges by Flynn and some of his supporters that the action was politically motivated.

But Weis has maintained that Flynn’s dismissal was solely a result of poor job performance.

Since July 7, Flynn has held a temporary job as an administrator for the Los Angeles County Education Office in Downey, where he had worked previously.

The position pays $5,600 per month--$433 more per month than Flynn earned as a principal in Ventura County. But the job has no medical insurance or other benefits, Flynn said, and it ends Sept. 30.

“As of next Friday, I’ll be unemployed,” he said.

Flynn said he has interviewed for other permanent positions. But he said his job search has been difficult, in part because school officials in Ventura County who are potential employers know of the controversy surrounding his dismissal.

Although Flynn said he is eager to settle the legal action against the district, he said one advantage in taking the matter to court is the opportunity to clear his name.

Weis said he would prefer that the district not waste time and money on a trial. But he also said he would welcome the opportunity to open Flynn’s personnel records in court to show the firing was justified.

Weis has kept those records closed and withheld detailed comment on the reasons for the dismissal, in keeping with privacy laws.