Ex-School Chief Claims He Was Fired for Being Gay

A former superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District is claiming that he was unjustly fired after school officials learned he was gay and trumped up financial allegations against him.

In a lawsuit filed this week, former Supt. Robert Pellicone contended school staffers printed fliers about his “sexual orientation and questioned his fitness to educate children.” An unnamed board member, he claimed, created an Internet chat room to unearth gossip about him.

Beverly Hills school officials, who fired Pellicone in September amid charges that he abused a district-issued credit card, denied the lawsuit’s allegations Wednesday. The district’s lawyer, Eric Bathen, said he had yet to see a copy of the suit, but insisted that Pellicone was not discriminated against.

“It never happened,” Bathen said. “There is absolutely no basis or evidence for a charge of discrimination.”

Pellicone is seeking $500,000 in damages, lost pay and attorneys fees from the district, renowned for its affluent pupils and high scores on standardized tests.

He took the helm of the 5,302-student Beverly Hills Unified School District in October 1998 after he was recruited from his job as superintendent in Eastchester, N.Y. He was fired 11 months later.

In his suit, the former superintendent claims that personnel changes he made at the district created animosity among some board members and staffers. Pellicone said he was falsely accused of seeking to hire his domestic partner as his personal secretary and ultimately was prevented from hiring his own secretary.

Pellicone said that the three unnamed board members, uneasy about the effect his sexual orientation would have on their own political careers, met in secret to plot his removal. They began criticizing his expense reports as a pretext to discredit him, he contended.

Ultimately, the board removed Pellicone from office in a 3-2 vote, accusing him of dishonesty, evident unfitness for service and persistent violation of state school laws, the suit said.

Among other things, he was accused of running up $5,000 worth of hotel and restaurant bills in San Francisco and Beverly Hills, as well as $250 in bar tabs.

Beverly Hills schools are envied by surrounding districts for such resources as a campus TV station at Beverly Hills High School. Symbolic of its financial status, the high school sits on an oil field where crude is pumped regularly and makes money for the district.

Board of Education member Virginia Maas, one of two trustees who opposed Pellicone’s dismissal, said Wednesday that she was unaware of the filing, and declined to comment. Maas referred all questions to the board president, Willie Brien, who could not be reached for comment. Brien joined the board after Pellicone’s firing.

The suit is the second such action that Pellicone has taken since he was fired. In November, he claimed that he was denied due process at his firing and asked unsuccessfully that he be reinstated.