Fired Orange School Official to Be Vindicated

A former top administrator with the Orange Unified School District who was accused of sexual harassment and fired in 1993 will be vindicated in an administrative law judge’s report, school board members confirmed Monday.

In the report, expected to be made public this week, the unnamed judge found allegations of sexual harassment against former Deputy Supt. Richard L. Donoghue largely groundless, according to Trustee James Fearns. The report also said the school board’s vote to terminate Donoghue’s three-year contract was improper, Fearns said.

“We lost on both counts,” Fearns said. “I’m pretty disappointed.”

Donoghue, who has been on unpaid leave, and his attorney could not be reached for comment.

The school board unanimously voted to fire Donoghue, 50, and demote two other administrators after an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment.

Fearns would not elaborate further on the report, which was quietly made available to board members and other top district officials June 30.

The school board has yet to decide whether it will challenge the decision, Fearns said. The next school board meeting is Aug. 17.

In a time of lean budgets, the school board’s decision to pursue the expensive case drew harsh criticism from some community activists at school board meetings. School board officials estimate the district has invested between $350,000 and $400,000 pressing the case against Donoghue and the two others, financial administrator Joyce Capelle and transportation and maintenance director Howard Mason.

“The district blew a lot of money on this thing, and the people we trusted should have done their homework a little better,” said Trustee Bill Lewis, one of dozens of witnesses who testified at the hearings before the same administrative law judge. Those hearings lasted more than a year.

“I voted to terminate Donoghue’s contract based on the assumption that all charges leveled against him by district employees were credible,” Lewis said. “Now, it appears that wasn’t the case, and it’s very upsetting.”

Charges of tolerating sexual banter in the workplace recently were dropped against Capelle, 40, who remains employed by the district. Hearings still are pending for Mason, 46, but are unlikely to proceed now with the Donoghue decision, Fearns said. Mason currently is on stress leave.

One of the largest school districts in the county, Orange Unified has 27,000 students and 36 schools. It serves Orange, Villa Park and parts of Anaheim Hills, Garden Grove and Santa Ana.