Union president sues Warren County Technical School officials for alleged defamation

FRANKLIN TWP. | The more than two-year-long contract battle between the Warren County Technical School Board and its employee union ended last summer, but the fighting hasn't ceased.

Several months before new contract talks are expected to begin, the head of the Warren Tech Education Association has sued the school board and two board members over statements allegedly made during the previous round of contract negotiations.

Union President Edward Yarusinsky claims board members Harold Warne and Bradley Bartow defamed him in separate instances between September 2007 and February 2008, according to the complaint filed April 10 in state Superior Court.

"Plaintiff's reputation has been injured and, as a result thereof, he has suffered humiliation, embarrassment and pain and suffering," according to the complaint.

The lawsuit comes amid the ongoing conflict between the union and the school board over employee pay and the dismissal of a popular culinary arts teacher. In two grievances brought against the school board, two independent arbitrators recently issued advisory opinions in the union's favor.

Warren Tech representatives said Tuesday that the lawsuit was part of a pressure campaign by the union against the school board.

"I don't think there's any merit to the lawsuit at all," said Bruce Jones, school board attorney. Jones declined to address the specific allegations made in the complaint.

Warne, who served as school board president during the time in question, called the lawsuit "ridiculous."

"It's a pressure tactic," Warne said.

Yarusinsky referred all questions Tuesday to his attorney, Sanford Oxfeld. Oxfeld said the complaint was not a tactic, because the previous contract negotiations are over.

The complaint cites four instances of alleged defamation, starting with a Sept. 21, 2007, news release from the school board. That document stated that Yarusinsky "would receive a pay raise to the exclusion of others in the bargaining unit," according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, Warne falsely claimed in public on Oct. 18, 2007, that Yarusinsky was "serving his own interests" by delaying the contract ratification.

Around Jan. 16, 2008, Bartow falsely said at a board meeting that the union rejected an offer made by the board because Yarusinsky "did not believe the offer was in his best personal interest," the complaint states.

The complaint further claims Warne made a false statement in a memo around Feb. 20, 2008, claiming Yarusinsky had received preferential treatment and "he was seeking to negotiate a better deal for himself."

Contract negotiations had reached an impasse around that time over pay raises for two longtime coaches, including Yarusinsky, a former cross country coach and social studies teacher.

Warne said Tuesday that Yarusinsky was named in the September 2007 news release but not directly mentioned in the February 2008 memo. Both documents were approved by the school board and its attorneys, Warne said. Warne added that Yarusinsky was never publicly discussed.

Bartow did not return calls for comment Tuesday.