Lawsuits filed against SBCISD

By J. NOEL ESPINOZA
Special to the News

Two separate lawsuits have been filed against the San Benito school district that include allegations of employment discrimination.
The News discovered a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday, Nov. 18, by Maria Conception Cruz and a termination lawsuit filed by Dorothy Shelton on Nov. 8.
According to court records, Cruz claims that SBCISD Superintendent, Dr. Nate Carman sought to demote her and pay her $30,000 less than the $87,000 she was making as director of elementary instructional implementation.
Cruz, a 27-year school veteran, says she had always received excellent performance evaluations prior to Carman’s tenure. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff believes Carman demoted her in retaliation after she filed a complaint against Carman on Feb. 7, 2018.
The second lawsuit was filed by Shelton who says she was wrongfully terminated on May 18, 2018. Shelton, who has 28 years’ experience in education, claims she’s been working in different administrative capacities the past two years earning approximately $90,000 per year.
Shelton also believes Carman and former Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Dr. Kevin Phillips, who also recently resigned from his post, demoted her without an evaluation or her work performance.
On Tuesday, the school board had a closed meeting after some residents complained about a lack of transparency with the day-to-day operations and firing of some employees during its regular board meeting. Board members, Carman, and the school district’s attorney, Tony Torres reconvened in open session, but they didn’t say what they were voting for, but approved what was discussed in closed session.

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