Friday, March 03, 2000
Ex-treasurer goes to court over firing
School board says she broke agreement
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
TRENTON — The Edgewood school board is refusing to pay former treasurer C.J. Uebel more than $34,000 as part of her settlement agreement because officials say Ms. Uebel has violated terms of the deal.
In response, Ms. Uebel is suing the district over her dismissal last November.
Edgewood board President John Snyder said Ms. Uebel bad-mouthed the district in the comments section of an online survey of Ohio school treasurers just days after signing the agreement last month. The settlement forbids either side to make negative comments about the other.
“As far as we're concerned we're not paying her a dime,” Mr. Snyder said Thursday. “She violated the agreement by talking about us. We're not paying the agreement unless a judge tells us to.”
Attorney C.G. Schmidt, who is representing Ms. Uebel, denied that Ms. Uebel broke any agreement. Rather, he said, the board has breached the deal by not paying Ms. Uebel, and by discussing the settlement with the news media.
“She responded to the survey. She's worked for several other districts besides Edgewood and never named names. She respected the terms of the agreement and did not men tion the Edgewood Schools,” Mr. Schmidt said.
He said his client is employed as a treasurer for a rural school district in northern Ohio, near Findlay. She could not be reached for comment.
On Tuesday, Mr. Schmidt filed a federal lawsuit against the board, alleging it breached its employment contract with Ms. Uebel when it fired her Nov. 15. In the suit, Ms. Uebel is asking for her job, back pay, attorney fees and damages, Mr. Schmidt said.
Altogether, six claims against the district are included in the lawsuit, Mr. Schmidt said. Among them are a claim that the Edgewood board went into executive session in violation of the sunshine law. Ms. Uebel also alleges she was discriminated against on the basis of age and gender. Her replacement, Ryan Slone, is younger, not as experienced and is being paid $15,000 more than Ms. Uebel, Mr. Schmidt said.
“This lawsuit is totally frivolous. It is the kind of thing that makes people not trust lawyers,” said Columbus attorney Richard Slee, who is representing the Edgewood board.
The settlement also stipulated that neither side would sue the other, so the lawsuit also violates the agreement, Mr. Slee said.
The board fired Ms. Uebel because of job performance issues, such as not paying bills on time, failing to provide financial projections, incomplete financial spreadsheets and poor communication with board members.
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