A former Southwestern College administrator has filed a lawsuit against the college for what she says was an improper demotion.
Arlie Ricasa, one of 15 defendants indicted in a school corruption scandal nearly three years ago, contends that a demotion from the director’s position of the Extended Opportunity Program Services to an academic counselor should be invalid because the college’s governing body did not follow the Ralph M. Brown Act, the state’s opening meeting laws when it demoted her on May 12, 2014.
In an Aug. 4 lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court, Ricasa argues that SWC failed to give her a 24-hour notice in discussing the demotion and did not report their action.
Meagan Garland, one of two attorneys representing Ricasa, said as a public employee Ricasa is entitled by law to certain constitutional considerations, including proper notice and the opportunity to request a public hearing of the charges against her, prior to her demotion.
“The (college) district’s governing board decided in a closed session to demote her; she received notification of the demotion following the meeting and was told that it would take affect,” she said. “So she was not given the opportunity, 24-hour’s notice of this closed session meeting to then respond and say ‘Hey, I would like to have a public hearing, which the Brown Act allows, of my charges’.”
Ricasa declined to comment for this story and referred all questions to her attorneys.
SWC attorney Matthew Hicks did not return phone messages seeking comment.
According to SWC, Ricasa appealed the demotion through the college’s due process.
The judge from the California Office of Administrative Hearings upheld the college’s demotion for “her misuse of college facilities and resources to commit a crime.”
The college would not comment on the lawsuit but released a statement regarding their internal process: “The judge ruled there was a clear nexus between Ms. Ricasa’s criminal conduct at the Sweetwater Union High School District and her employment with the college, which justified her demotion.”
The judge also closely examined and completely rejected Ms. Ricasa’s claim that the Brown Act was violated.”
Attorney Adriana Cara, Ricasa’s other attorney, said SWC demoted her based on moral turpitude not on job performance. Cara said Ricasa’s past job evaluations “have been stellar.”
“I think the irony of this whole lawsuit is that the district in trying to demote Mrs. Ricasa, and have demoted her because they alleged that she committed a single misdemeanor,” Cara said.
“But what I think may be lost on the district, at the very least, is that (a) violation of the Brown Act constitutes a misdemeanor.
Ricasa also seeks back pay for reinstatement and attorney fees. Cara said her client, a mother of five, has sustained a substantial pay cut as a result of the demotion.
As director of EOPS, Ricasa earned $126,624 a year. As an academic counselor she now makes $110,352 annually.
Cara said that SWC has taken a public position that Ricasa’s demotion was justified because she was unfit to serve as a role model to the students at the district as a result of her guilty plea for corruption.
However, Cara said as an academic counselor, the college placed her in charge of the most at-risk segment of the student population.
Cara said Ricasa’s demotion should be “null and void” because of the alleged Brown Act violations.
“Southwestern College is not above the law,” Cara said. “The college was required to provide her due process rights during the disciplinary process and it failed to do so.”
For her role in what the District Attorney’s Office called “the largest corruption scandal in San Diego County history,” Ricasa in April 2014 received three years of probation, community service hours and was ordered to pay a $4,589 fine.
She also had to forfeit her seat on the Sweetwater Union High School District school board. She admitted to accepting gifts and not reporting them on state mandated forms.
During sentencing Ricasa’s defense attorney, Allen Bloom, asked the judge to reduce her fine because she had suffered financially as her employer —Southwestern College — was in the process of demoting her.
A demurrer will be heard Jan. 29.
CLARIFICATION
In the Nov. 20 edition of The Star-News, attorney Adriana Cara was quoted discussing a possible violation of the Brown Act by the Southwestern College District (“Ricasa wants demotion deleted”).
While a lawsuit filed by Cara and her client allege a Brown Act violation, no legal determination has been made in that case.
