A former Los Angeles Unified school principal is suing his employer, alleging he was transferred to a smaller school along with a pay reduction for having testified on behalf of another principal who filed a whistleblower retaliation suit against the district.
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Alex Perea Placencio's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also alleges that he was forced to retire at a lower rate of pay. His causes of action are for wrongful termination, discrimination and retaliation. He seeks unspecified damages.
An LAUSD representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Monday.
Placencio was hired as a teacher in 1988 and was eventually promoted to principal. In October 2021, he testified on behalf of fellow LAUSD principal Jason Camp, who alleged in his separate whistleblower lawsuit that while at Owensmouth Continuation High School in Canoga Park he was retaliated against for objecting to racially discriminatory remarks by a superior.
Camp was awarded $2.5 million by a jury and granted attorneys' fees and costs by a judge, but all of it was overturned on appeal.
Placencio also sought information from the district regarding students with severe behavioral and/or criminal histories, believing that he and his teachers were entitled know the names in order to protect themselves and the school staff, the suit states.
Placencio's testimony and his ongoing request for documents on the disruptive students resulted in a retaliatory involuntary transfer that the district disguised as a reassignment, the suit alleges. Placencio was moved from William Tell Aggeler Opportunity High School in Chatsworth to Camp's Owensmouth Continuation High, a smaller campus in Canoga Park where the plaintiff's pay was reduced, the suit states.
Placencio eventually went on medical stress leave and subsequently was forced to retire at a lower rate of pay due to the district's "continuing mistreatment and violation of his rights," according to the suit, which further states that he was later turned down when he sought reinstatement.
Placencio has suffered lost wages and benefits as well as "substantial embarrassment" and "extreme and severe humiliation," the suit further alleges.
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