LOS ANGELES — Substitute teacher Ronald Anderson Sr.’s several attempts to sue the Los Angeles Unified School District have been frivolous, according to Marcos F. Hernandez, the school district's attorney.
“This is Mr. Anderson’s fifth lawsuit against the district," Hernandez told the Northern California Record.
Since the California Second District Court of Appeal affirmed that Anderson, who had been a classroom supervisor for 14 years, had to pay attorney fees for LAUSD over a gender discrimination and invasion of privacy lawsuit he brought against the district, LAUSD general counsel said the teacher’s constant lawsuits against the district are not only frivolous but financially straining.
“It’s costing us quite a bit of money," he said. "We are doing it in-house with LAUSD office of general counsel. It is unfortunately taking quite a bit of our time to address his claims that are very misguided."
Anderson's behavior is what brought on this last suit against the district, which ended up costing the teacher nearly $14,000 in attorney fees for the region’s fight against him.
“This all stemmed from his conduct in the classroom," Hernandez said. "He likes to think administrators are out to get him."
Anderson had made inappropriate comments to fourth-grade female students that ended in reprimand by the principal. If Anderson was looking for the court to instruct administrators not to believe the fourth-grade students, he was wrong, said Hernandez.
“We can’t do that," Hernandez said. "We needed to defend the lawsuit so our administration and all school administration can investigate complaints. He wasn’t happy that he was asked why he said that to the female students. We don’t think the principal did anything wrong, and we were ready to defend her.”
According to Hernandez, Anderson must file more suits before he can be considered an excessive litigant.
“He has to sue us a few more times,” Hernandez said, noting that the teacher has been offered extensions and deadlines which he has continuously missed. “In one of his depositions he pretended he was having a heart attack, and in another one, he just got up and walked out.”
At this point, all LAUSD counsel can do is their job, according to Hernandez.
“We want to make sure our principals and teachers are able to educate our students," he said. "They shouldn’t be called to court to defend against these frivolous lawsuits."