2 Sue Orange Unified District Over Layoffs

Two former administrators of the Orange Unified School District are demanding reinstatement and more than $1 million in damages, alleging they were unlawfully fired for refusing to break state regulations and for speaking publicly about problems in the beleaguered district.

In a lawsuit filed May 24, former district spokeswoman Judith Frutig and former risk management director Barbara Bowen say they were harassed and fired after years of service because they failed to appease board of education members.

The flap involves a December 1999 mass mailing in which the district outlined its side of troubled labor negotiations and paid for the mailing with public funds. Frutig contends she was singled out for refusing to direct the mailing herself because she believed it violated the state’s Fair Political Practices Act.

The episode is not the first time the district has gotten into trouble for such mailings. In March, the Fair Political Practices Commission warned board member Linda Davis she had violated the law when she sent out a self-promoting mailer at taxpayer expense last year.

Frutig says her bosses repeatedly refused her vacation time, increased her workload unreasonably and withheld information before finally laying her off in January.

District Supt. Barbara Van Otterloo, who is named as a defendant, declined to comment on the suit. But district officials say both Frutig and Bowen were laid off as part of a cost-saving restructuring. The district’s attorney, James Bowles, could not be reached for comment.

Frutig, who began working at the district more than two years ago, is now a public relations consultant. Bowen has retired.

Bowen contends school officials have prevented her from gaining new employment by slandering her. Her suit alleges she was fired after 30 years of service because she testified in court about allegedly improper changes made to the district’s employee retirement benefits.

She says that after speaking about the changes in court, district officials falsely and maliciously accused her of using her position to grant favors to certain fellow employees and also called her incompetent.