Ex-Principal Sues Over His Ouster

A former high school principal who was unceremoniously replaced after a series of racially motivated melees on his campus last spring has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, saying he was unfairly blamed for the brawls.

Norman K. Morrow was removed after fights between Latino and African American students at Jefferson High School in April and May, leading Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to describe the school as “out of control.”

The fights attracted intense media attention and turned the spotlight on conditions at several of the district’s overcrowded South Los Angeles high schools.

Afterward, school district officials said publicly they were dissatisfied with Morrow’s leadership at Jefferson and announced that he would be replaced.

The suit names the school district, Supt. Roy Romer and Morrow’s then-supervisor, Rowena Lagrosa, as defendants. Among the eight complaints are invasion of privacy, wrongful discharge, defamation and the intentional infliction of emotional distress. It seeks at least $200,000 in compensation for lost wages and physical and emotional distress.

A key part of the suit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges that Romer and Lagrosa “publicly made false and disparaging statements” about the principal and his leadership abilities, embarrassing him.

According to the suit, Morrow was a scapegoat and was “defamed, humiliated and embarrassed” over school conditions that should have been blamed on the inaction of the district, Romer and Lagrosa.

After the melees, Romer said Morrow’s handling of the fights accelerated a decision to replace him and that the principal “had retirement plans that did not fit with the district’s needs.”

Lagrosa, the local District 5 superintendent, signaled Morrow’s replacement during the crisis when she told The Times that “the events of the past weeks have highlighted the need to bring in a new team in July that will be at the school for the long haul.”

Kevin Reed, the school district’s lawyer, said Wednesday the suit was without merit and that the district plans to respond aggressively.

Reed also gave short shrift to Morrow’s allegations that he had been publicly humiliated.

“We are a public institution. We are accountable to students and parents and we can’t do everything in the dark,” he said. “If things happen, people will ask questions about the changes.”

Reed said that making a leadership change at the high school was nothing out of the ordinary.

“There needed to be a change of leadership at Jefferson,” he said. “We make changes every day around the district. That’s called management.”

Henry R. Kraft, Morrow’s lawyer, said the former principal was under a doctor’s care for high blood pressure brought on by stress.

He said Morrow’s key complaint was that criticism of his performance was aired publicly, in violation of the state’s Brown Act, which allows personnel matters to be considered privately. Kraft also said Morrow had repeatedly asked for increased security that would have deterred the campus violence.

“All his requests fell on deaf ears,” Kraft said. “When violence erupted, they used Mr. Morrow as a scapegoat.”

Kraft said that Morrow, 63, hadn’t planned to retire for another 10 years but that “he saw the handwriting on the wall.”