 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Bertolini v. Whitehall City School District Board of Education9/26/2000
APPEAL from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.
Joseph L. Bertolini, appellant, appeals a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Civil Division. The trial court affirmed a decision of the Whitehall City School District Board of Education, appellee, terminating appellant as associate superintendent for Whitehall City Schools. We reverse and remand.
In May 1997, appellant was hired by the Whitehall City School District Board of Education ("board") to be the associate superintendent for Whitehall City Schools ("Whitehall"). Appellant previously held the position of superintendent of the Leetonia School District ("Leetonia"). While working at Leetonia, appellant became acquainted with Patti Woods who was also employed by Leetonia. Even though appellant and Woods were married to other individuals, from July 1997 to November 1997, the two began a sexual relationship. After the board hired appellant, Woods applied for the position of secretary to appellant. She was interviewed by several individuals but was not interviewed by appellant. The individuals responsible for hiring determined that Woods was overqualified to be a secretary, so she was offered the position of EMIS coordinator with Whitehall. As EMIS coordinator, Woods' supervisor was Donald Moore. Moore's supervisor was appellant. Woods moved to Columbus but her husband remained in Columbiana County. Woods and her husband later divorced.
Woods stated in a hearing held before a referee that she had a good relationship with appellant and his family when she first began working for Whitehall. Woods had a key to appellant's home and took appellant's daughter home from school. Appellant had a key to Woods' condominium. Woods testified that around November 3, 1997, she attempted to end the romantic relationship with appellant but desired to remain good friends. Woods agreed with the statement that her "relationship with [appellant] and his family continued to be fairly close after [their] physical relationship ceased, at least for a period of time." On November 9, 1997, shortly after Woods ended the romantic relationship with appellant, a conference was held for Ohio school superintendents and school board members. At the conference, appellant was required to assist Dr. James Crawford, the superintendent of Whitehall. However, appellant became drunk the first night and failed to attend the remainder of the conference.
Appellant's performance as an associate superintendent was later evaluated by Dr. Crawford. The results of Dr. Crawford's evaluation were expressed in a letter to appellant dated January 5, 1998, which stated:
Let me begin by stating how pleased I am to have you as a member of our administrative team. You certainly join our district with much expertise in the area of school administration. Some of your administrative skills that have impressed me the most at this point are:
· Your knowledge of how to handle potential, volatile situations, particularly in processing complaints from parents and/or staff members. You have always addressed these situations in a very professional, very appropriate, and very fair manner. In the future, I hope you will continue to handle all situations as successful as you have up to this point.
· Your strength in the area of school/community relations. Although, as we addressed when you first came to Whitehall that your role and responsibilities were primarily not in this area, I must tell you that I am impressed at the amount of district sporting events and other social events that you have attended on your own and the relationships that you have built with community members. It is certainly a strong state
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ohio Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|